Arrival of the Astartes
by TheLunarWolf
Summary: Something has happened, Existences are changed and the circle is shattered. Warhammer 40k Babylon 5
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own nothing except the scenario…everything belongs to JMS or Games Workshop.

B5/Warhammer 40000 crossover

Arrival of the Astartes

Prologue

The Circle Shatters and so it begins.

M30.451.232 Galactic North

Extraction point: Delta 6.

The war that had been raging across the world of Ullanor was finally over, and it was time to leave.

They had spent nearly a year taking this world from the vile greenskins and rebel men, but they were Astartes and they had conquered. They had lost many good men, including Captains Abaddon and Ahriman, but as the serried ranks of men, machines and tanks entered Stormbirds or other transports to take them up to the ships, the only thought on everyone's mind was that they were going home.

But this crusade had changed the legions. Some of the great companies were decimated and had joined together creating what some were calling the extreme assault companies; 2000 marines of the two legions, divided into 4 cohorts of 500 and the cohorts divided into 5 groups of 100 men. These heavy assault groups each had enough weaponry to outfit an Army division.

_IBB Fist of Horus: **In Orbit.**_**  
**  
Horus stood looking out on the vast array of imperial ships, feeling very odd still about this new title of his, Warmaster of the Imperium. He didn't know yet if he enjoyed it or despised it. A presence gently made itself known to his mind. It was his brother, Magnus.

He thought on Magnus for a minute, a giant of a man standing some inches taller then even their father the Emperor did. He knew of the rumors of taint surrounding his brother. He didn't allow it on his ships, and any of his Astartes that uttered such an idea were severely punished. Bondsmen who uttered any such words didn't live long. The punishment for a bondsman was the same as for an Astartes.

He turned just in time for the doors to open and admit his brother. He looked at him, admiring the armor gifted to Magnus since his rescue of the Admech Battleship _Sword of Mars_ when it was struck by surface to orbit artillery belonging to rebel humans. It was one of the new massive artificier forged terminator armours, the dark blood red ceramite contrasting with the almost white gold trim and decorations covering the suit.

"Magnus, would you and your sons like to accompany me and my wolves to Terra for this Grand Assembly Father is calling?"

The smooth quiet voice of his brother answered from within the ceramite armour, "yes. "

"There is something coming in the warp and better we be together when it comes than apart."

The helmet was removed and the large cyclopean eye of Magnus was revealed. "What is this thing you sense, brother? "

"I do not truly know, but something is shifting within the Immaterium."

"Then we should make best speed toward Terra, and warn Father," Stated Magus and Horus watched as his brother chanted softly before teleporting in a flash of energy.

A member of the bridge crew came up to him carrying the readiness reports for the fleet. "My Lord, all vessels are reporting fully readiness to travel, however the Mechanicus Battleship requests to travel with us."

"Tell them to form up to our right flank and provide coordinates, dismissed Crewman."

An hour later, the small fleet of 50 ships entered the Warp and was never heard from again.

**M3.146.200 Sol **

between Mars and Earth.

Commander Carn Mollari, commander of the _Primus_, a new type of heavy destroyer, was having a field day. He had just discovered a new primitive race that could be annexed or conquered into the Great Republic.

"Set course for Centauri Prime, the Centaurum and the emperor must hear about this system," Carn ordered, sipping from his lfask of Brivari.

"Yes, Commander, course set. Opening jump point," an officer replied.

However this time there was no smooth transition to jump space, and word would never reach the Centaurum about this system until the inhabitants made contact.

Space seemed to buckle and fold around Carn Mollari, as though the universe itself were coming undone. The very last thing Carn Mollari ever saw was a bolt of ghostly blue lightning that tore his ship apart and a large wolf's head biting a crescent moon.

All over the Galaxy, Vorlons everywhere shuddered in Fear, for something had just shattered the circle into oblivion…


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Politicians, Warmasters and Plots…Oh My!**

**_EAS Farragut_: Sol:  
**  
It had been two days since First contact with the "Imperium" and at this moment the President, several generals, and a number of senators were coming up to Admiral Jameson's flagship. From here they would travel to the _Fist of Horus_ and meet the three highest ranking officers of this fleet: The Warmaster Horus, Lord Magnus the Red and High Magos Talus. The most recent reports from both Psicorps and naval intelligence were troubling. Naval intelligence estimated that any single one of those ships could blast Jameson's entire fleet to hell and back, and those estimates had only gotten worse when the other of the massive Primarch class battlebarges, the _Sword of Prospero_, had run a system check and activated huge "shields", shields had been considered a total impossibility by every Earthforce scientist out there. After the shields had come online the Earthforce sensors hadn't been able to detect anything other then a void, but what worried him most was the omega level report filed by the Psicorps, it had only three words: _No information obtained._ That meant that something or someone on those vessels had teep powers, powers strong enough to protect 50 ships, and everyone, especially Psicorps, hoped it was the former.

What the good Admiral didn't know was that onboard those ships were two of the most powerful beings in any galaxy, as well as a literal legion of high level telepaths and telekinetics, known throughout the Imperium as the Thousand Sons.

**Thousand Sons Flagship, _IBB Spear of Prospero_, Sol:  
**  
Magnus the Red sat brooding in the command centre of the _Sword._ Normally this room was only used during planetary assaults to coordinate attacks, but it seemed this Terra had decided to use its Psykers to obtain information about the fleet. That initiative had been neutralized very quickly, since the most powerful psyker this Earth seemed to have was barely theta level. "Pathetic", thought the Primarch. The weakest of the Thousand Sons psykers was delta level, orders higher then Theta. So now he sat listening to his Captains outlining defence plans against psyker assault by Terra.

Truly the fates were testing their resolve, for now he was to shuttle over to the _Fist_ to meet the President and dignitaries of this "Earth Alliance". His brother had outlined a parade reception for the visitors. It would apparently be one hell of a show since his brother had requested that Magnus bring the entire 1st Company, which of course included 120 Terminators. He had also heard Horus request that the High Magos bring the two Warhounds currently on his vessel. Magnus the Red smiled lightly and hoped the Terran dignitaries were not faint of heart...

**2 hours later: _Fist of Horus_: Sol**

As the six Earth Alliance Marines stepped out of the shuttle to make bodyguards for the President, the Admiral and the senators, they realized quickly that any form of fighting would be over before it had a chance to begin. The shuttle was parked between two of the largest pairs of legs any one of the marines had ever seen, legs that belonged to a pair of Warhound Scout titans

"Astartes of the Luna Wolves and Thousand Sons of the Warships _Sword of Prospero_ and _Fist of Horus!_" A voice rang from above. "ATTENTION!"

The 10 figures stopped in their tracks.

Thousands of silver-grey and blood-red armoured men stood in serried lines of hundreds on both sides of the Earth Alliance delegation. The huge figures in the first line of each side suddenly drew large swords, half of them flickering with ghostly blue light, and slammed the blades tip first into the deckplates. The sound of this action travelled the hangar like a roiling explosion. As one the first line knelt while the second line stepped forth, lifting huge eight barrelled rotary cannons into 45 degree position, creating a semi arch of deadly power down the waiting Lords.

Comoros told himself that the chill running down his spine was due to the couple of degrees of temperature difference between the _Farragut's_ shuttle and the hangar bay of the _Fist_, not his sudden case of cold sweats.

The path of metal lead through the middle of the arch, off towards the gigantic gleaming winged skull mounted on the wall ahead. The wings alone on the emblem must have measured at least 30 feet each, around which hung four large banners. The first depicted a large wolf's head biting a crescent moon, the second a huge emerald green eye trimmed with gold on a blood red background, the third banner depicting a two tone black and bone yellow skull on what appeared to be a cog, but the final banner, hung directly above the skull, caught the eyes of the EA humans. It depicted a huge golden double-headed eagle with its wings flared above Earth on a backdrop of the Galaxy. A line of text stood in bold two foot high letters below the skull, reading _In Nomine Humanitas._

Senator Cole's reaction was by far the most succinct, Comoros thought, with his low muttered prayer summing up the little group's sentiments. "Please God, let them be friendly."

"Looks like they want us to walk boys," Admiral Jameson pointed out.

The group started walking, Comoros acknowledging that the blatant attempt at intimidation was working very well. There was something daunting, something gigantic and terrifying about it, which awoke something akin to primal fear in every one of the humans making the walk towards the three armoured figures in the distance.

The presence of the large number of obviously armed men was oppressive, and stifled any conversation within the Alliance ranks.

For the last dozen metres, the arch of heavy weapons gave way to huge, heavily-armoured eight to nine foot armoured Giants, one the marines could be heard muttering about "walking tanks". Comoros took as much in as he could without looking directly at anything or moving his eyes. He could feel the gaze of the huge armoured men upon him, and as he approached the three standing in front of him, now looking far taller, wider and more imposing than the rest of the Astartes, even the "walking tanks" had on the way through the ranks. In fact, more than that, two of them were huge, easily nine or ten feet tall. It took all his political training not to stare at the red armoured figure, a Cyclops, myth become real.

"On behalf of the Imperium of Man, welcome to the _Fist of Horus_, President Comoros," the figure in immaculate grey armour spoke.

"On behalf of the Earth Alliance, I thank you, Warmaster."

"Allow me to introduce to you my brother, Magnus of the Thousand Sons."

The President's gaze drifted to the massive Cyclops. His single eye appeared to see straight into the President's soul. He bowed his head but remained silent.

"I believe we have much to discuss President Comoros," Horus said, casting a disapproving look towards Magnus. "Please, follow me."

As the President and the two Primarchs headed off the rest of the marines received permission to disperse. As the bay emptied, one figure remained.

**…**

High Magos Talus was a very unusual man, even for one of the Omnissiah's own; he was a Tech priest with only one bionic replacement, an arm. Still, he wielded huge powers over the Manufactorums of Mars and Forgeworlds throughout the Imperium. But now he was not just a man with great power now. Now the sum total of the Adeptus Mechanicus rested within the _Sword of Mars_. His devotion to the Omnissiah was being tested, but he would prevail. These alternate humans would swiftly agree to the proposals laid out by the Warmaster, and the Imperium would start anew in this place.

He had already spoken with the two primarchs and they had given him assurances that once the Earth Alliance had seen the Emperor's Light and joined the Imperium, Mars would once again belong to the Adeptus Mechanicus.

He called one of his attendants, a Techmarine turned priest, and the man known as Menjus was instantly at his side and had begun taking notes about what was to be prioritized when they reached their red world.

President Ilja Comoros was having a very good day. After several hours of talks it seemed these Primarchs, as they were known, wanted to ally with the EA and not just conquer them as most of the military feared.

But their story was incredible! This Emperor of theirs, a literal god that had walked the Earth since before Christ. The two Primarchs were his sons, demigods easily. It was all so incredible. Now he just had get approval for sanctuary by Earthdome, but that was a mere technicality. Soon Earth would be in space, not just in Sol.

**Terra: Geneva: Switzerland**

A group of the 20 most powerful people on Earth sealed their cabal. The alien ships of this Imperium, along with any crew belonging to that fleet, would never be granted sanctuary on their Earth. It was theirs since at that very moment troops loyal to the cabal was taking Earthdome and seizing the planet's governing body, as well as over half of the ships surrounding the Astartes fleet. Earth belonged to them and no Xeno would put its feet on Terran soil. Bureau 13 would see to that. Activating a hidden explosive, they watched as the President's shuttle exploded in space.

The Senators had all heard about the disgusting Xeno Warships, but none of them had believed it and that would be their undoing, because nobody could build ships that massive, could they?.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three: The Battle for Sol, Co-authored by Entilza.**

**The helmet designs belong to MGM.**

When the shuttle carrying the president, senators and marine guards suddenly exploded in a ball of flame, it took barely a second from Horus' command of "shields" to all vessels under his command, which for the moment included both the Admech and Magnus's ships, to react. The next shot that came impacted against the void shields of a strike cruiser.

"Milords, Milords!"

"Yes, communications, what is it?"

"We are picking a global transmission emanating from…according to the data packet provided by President Comoros, Earthdome."

"Put it on the main viewer," Horus commanded.

"Yes, Milord."

The two primarchs stood silently watching the declaration of the new Terran Empire.

"This is what we wanted is it not, brother? This is our excuse?" Asked the Warmaster.

"Yes," agreed Magnus.

"Very well, since our agreement was with Comoros, we are honour bound to ensure that his murderers get swift and final justice," the Warmaster said.

"No, they have courts, we will rule as protectors not tyrants, brother."

"Of course, you are right brother. However what do you suggest, they won't just let us rule," Horus stated. "Their fleet is divided; by rights we should support those loyal to the former president, as he brokered a deal with us. As for the land operations…"

"I have an idea for that," Magnus stated. "I've recently come across a technique in my most ancient tomes regarding the creation of thunderstorms…"

"I think I see your plan brother. I will need to borrow at least ten of your most skilled psykers for teleports; terminator honours would be good."

"So you will be using terminator armoured men?" Magnus asked.

"We do wish to make a statement do we not?" Horus asked with a knowing smile.

"Yes, I will summon ten of my best to aid in your plan, but until we get into close orbit I will make no guarantees on their ability to find and make strategic placement teleports, especially not with nine terminators in tow."

"About their fleet Magnus; we can wipe out the rebels in a crossfire. Their ships will be firing on us soon enough anyway, but they'll start for real when we begin the advance. When we get into close orbit those railgun platforms will have to be dealt with before we can lower void shields and teleport an assault force."

"I'll take one of the stormbirds back to the _Sword_ and organize my part of this little adventure. Oh and Horus, I saw those new helmets we decided on, they look very intimidating."

"Good." The Warmaster replied. As his brother left the command deck returned to his command throne. "All ships prepare to advance!" He called out. "Organize the fleet with heavily damaged ships to the rear. What's our tactical status?"

"We have 47 vessels at 60 battle capacity, the remainder are below," the marine manning the tactical station responded. "Our own Void Shields are at half strength and a third of our weapons are still functioning."

"Very well, what is the state of the human vessels in orbit?"

"Most of them appear to be exchanging intense communications with Earthdome. They are rounding on us and their weapons are charging. Orders Milord?"

"Prepare a volley from the forward guns. Target the first vessels to fire, and instruct the rest of the fleet to only target hostile vessels. I wish to win this battle with the minimal amount of losses on both sides."

"As you command Warmaster."

Slowly the Imperial armada moved on Terra, many vessels lagging behind as their damaged engines strained to maintain momentum. The first shots were fired from the Earth Alliance fleet, a barrage of railgun rounds and low yield nuclear missiles impacting on the forward Void Shields of the _Fist of Horus_ and its escorts.

"Void shields holding Warmaster. Forward batteries, open fire!" From the bow gun decks of the Warmasters' flagship came a trio of lance shots and a volley from forward plasma cannons. The results were devastating; fifteen ships were torn apart, two of them larger heavy cruisers.

The few ships still loyal to the President, only numbering twenty ships, took the opportunity to open fire on the traitors to Earth. A barrage of fire tore into several vessels, but the largest traitor vessel, a heavy cruiser fitted with an inordinate number of missile launchers, obliterated the loyalist ships with a barrage of nukes. The Imperium fleet once again became the traitors' only target.

"Brave men," Horus remarked "fighting for their leader even if it meant their deaths. We shall avenge them brothers. Order all ships to move forward, best speed! All weapons fire at will! In the name of the Emperor!"

"IN THE NAME OF THE EMPEROR!" The bridge marines replied. Slowly but with gathering speed, the Imperium fleet moved on Terra, the traitor fleet gathering to face them. A massive barrage of solid, energy and nuclear weapons met shimmering Void Shields. One ship, the Strike Cruiser _Stellar Nova_, came apart as a trio of missiles passed through a rent in its hull and exploded within the generarium. The explosion only seemed to incite the Marines and Navy personnel to greater rage. Lances and plasma weapons tore apart the Earth ships, and a shot from the _Fist of Horus's_ Nova cannon opened a hole which the Imperium vessels eagerly entered. The orbital defence net loomed before them. Now the real battle would soon begin.

"Orbital platforms coming into range," came the report from tactical.

"Analysis?" Asked the Warmaster.

"One large twin railgun mount and several missile launchers. Based on the data I am receiving they would normally be no threat to our ships. However with our Void shields weakened as they are some of our ships may be in danger."

"Order all ships to fire at any platforms in range. Leave the remaining Earth ships to our damaged elements." Leaning back in his command throne, Horus watched as the renegade human ships battered themselves against the Imperium armada. Though they were traitors, Horus could not help but admire their bravery. They were fighting against what must have seemed a nearly invincible opponent, but not once had they attempted to retreat. "Once the orbital battle is concluded, dispatch rescue craft to pick up any survivors. It should prove our sincerity to them."

"The orbital platforms are firing!" Tactical warned. A moment later the _Fist of Horus_ shook slightly as twin volleys of railgun rounds slammed into the forward Void Shields. "Direct hit, Void Shield down by two percent. Forward batteries engaging." In retaliation for their attack, six of the orbital platforms were blasted to scrap metal by the Warmasters battle group. "Preparing second volley."

As the human satellites fired again, they found that this time they got lucky. One of the Navy cruisers, the _Fist of Ardua_, took simultaneous hits from ten of the surviving satellites. It's already failing Void Shields quickly collapsed, and a moment later a barrage of nukes impacted. Most detonated harmlessly against the armor, but a lucky strike found a damaged section of bow plating and punched through, detonating within the ship's magazines. The resultant explosion caused the ship to bulge slightly before vanishing in a roiling ball of plasma.

On board the _Spear of Prospero_, Magnus glared in anger at the platforms which had just claimed another of his ships. Closing his eye, he cast his gaze into space. Finding the platforms, he focused his power and created a small warp rift inside the platform's reactor. The effect was similar to a jump point, tearing the platform apart from within. Within moments a second platform detonated, then a third followed. By this time the Earth Alliance ships had been neutralized.

"We are in range for orbital teleport my Lord," one of Magnus's Commanders spoke. The eyes of the man's helmet, glowing a bright blue, showed that his powers were strong and focused.

"As soon as the last platforms are destroyed we shall begin," the Primarch replied. Once again he watched the guns of the fleet savage Earth's defences. Earth. He simply couldn't get over how different this world was from Holy Terra. Forests and seas covered much of the surface, and his mind could detect only a few billions souls compared to the teeming trillions on the world he knew.

"It is indeed different," his Commander said, picking up on the Primarch's thoughts. "And with the Emperor's blessing soon it shall join the Imperium."

The mention of his father drew a pang of regret from within Magnus. He knew there was a possibility he would never see his father again, nor the Imperium he and his brother Horus had helped build into the dominant force in the galaxy.

"The last platform had been destroyed my Lord." Came a call which broke Magnus out of his trance.

"Very well, signal the Warmaster and prepare to begin teleport assault," Magnus commanded. "Even if we cannot return, we can rebuild the Imperium in this place," he said to himself. "We can forge an empire which would make Father proud, and I shall see to it."

In the armouries Marines were mounting lightning claws, power fists and gathering their bolters, and three groups where outfitted wholly with power claws and assault cannons. Those few who were issued close combat weaponry were hefting great power swords or power axes; weapons which looked like they belonged more on Dreadnoughts then ordinary Astartes.

Several tech priests and servitors were readying and modifying the armours of the assault force. One of the higher ranked Tech priests assisting the marines, Menjus, a Techmarine of the Blood Angels, had arrived during the destruction of the defence net with carts marked as carrying helmets and shoulder sections for Terminator armor. He looked at the assembled Astartes and gave what appeared to even the most battle hardened as an unsettling grin of malicious joy. As he pulled the tarp away from the carts filled with "helmets and shoulder sections" and demonstrated one of these new "helmets" his expression was mirrored upon the faces of the one hundred men in armor.

The new helmets had been made by the Admech with plans provided by Horus and Magnus. They had modified the design for the newly introduced collapsible psychic hood and after removing the psychic aspect of the device had worked closely with the High Magos Talus to create something primeval, awe-inspiring and terrifying.

Menjus gathered the Brother-Sergeants and, using his four mechadendrites, started instructing the marines in using the advanced wargear and if the marines had ever doubted the usefulness of this new wargear they stopped right away when the new helmets array of auto-sensors, listening devices and droves of new comm. gear became apparent. As the final equipment was hooked up powered and tested, the Thousands Sons psykers arrived.

Brother-Lieutenant Hazarhun of the Thousand Sons 1st Company was deeply bemused with this turn of events. Not only were they doing a teleport assault on Terra, they were doing it to conquer the planet. He shuddered, for the very thought seemed like treason. He had left his Primarch standing in the psychic sanctum of the _Sword of Prospero_, but as he and nine other brother-lieutenants of the Thousand Sons entered the ready room, they were met by a sight that, had they not been Astartes, would have rendered them speechless. In the room stood a hundred battle ready Astartes of the Lunar Wolves in full terminator gear and wearing the new Horus-style helmets, and 16 Tech priests.

Hazarhun and the nine other Brother-Lieutenants were all powerful psykers, but though they all had terminator honours and were rated for tactical dreadnought armours, they would not be wearing them for this mission. They would be wearing normal power armor enhanced to the newly styled heavy assault armor, a middle ground between terminator armor and the Mk III Astartes power armor, and the new Anubis-style helmets.

The Thousands sons Psykers would be coordination with the fleet and psychic warfare personnel and as such would keep themselves at range from the siege of Earthdome. They had been ordered by the Warmaster to teleport the squads in then teleport to high ground. They had identified 9 skyscrapers well within range of immediate short jumps.

Hazarhun would remain at the TZ providing close support, and for that he was equipped with a set of bolt pistols as well as the same type of power staff that his brethren would be using. It was rather ornate and flimsy looking, but the tech priests had assured him that these staves would act both as close combat weaponry equal to the Crozius Arcanums used by the Word Bearers Chaplains and as focusers for psychic attacks.

As the somewhat unconventional assault force readied them selves for the assault, they went over quickly all their objectives and proceeded to teleport through the Warp down to Earthdome, Geneva.

**T- 3 hrs to Assault, Earthdome:**

Commander Hank Scorpio was a happy man. He finally had power, and it was thanks to his alliance with the powerful chairman of the Tactical Command Council C. Montgomery Burns IV. Burns was an aged and decrepit man, greatly resembling a vulture of some kind, but though looking old and crumbled, Burns possessed an inner strength common only to the greatest of men.

It was on Burns' initiative that two full divisions, nearly 10,000 men loyal to the New Order, had been moved to Geneva, just incase politics failed. Now it seemed they were all going to be needed, and though the ships in orbit hadn't launched landing craft, he had a feeling the fecal matter was about to hit the proverbial fan.

Suddenly his feeling became reality as one hundred massive armoured warriors flashed into existence before the defenders of EarthDome. They were massive things, at least three meters tall and their armor was painted grey for the most part. One of the company sergeants was abit of a history nut, and he was looking at something resembling Anubis and Horus, the gods of Ancient Egypt, but gods or not, he and his fellow marines would not let them pass.

Suddenly nine of the jackal headed creatures vanished in flashes of light. If anyone had been looking, they would have seen the psykers reappear on the tops of nine skyscrapers around EarthDome. The remaining armoured enemies marched on the massed Earthforce soldiers.

As the Terminators advanced, Magnus had begun his work in orbit. The skies darkened as glowing storm clouds formed. Multi-colored lightning struck, killing dozens of Earthforce troopers but not touching a single marine. The assault had begun.

The colonel in charge of the 4th division screamed into his radio for status reports as he and his command staff found themselves having to don nightvision goggles at 1500 hrs.

Brother-Sergeant Kernem readied his Lightning claws as soon as the teleport was complete. Around and behind his squad were the other 8 squads of Terminator Marines. Close Combat Power weapons of every kind available to the Astartes, Storm Bolters, Assault cannons and Torrent class Plasma cannons were all primed and ready. In the distance, the towering buildings of Earthdome were clearly visible against the storm racked sky.

Arrayed in front of the marines on the main avenue and in cover positions in and around the buildings were, his auto-senses informed Kernem, nearly 4900 men. Most were armed with long barrelled stubber weapons, with a sprinkling of energy weapons as well. The enemy soldiers were clad in what looked similar to Guard-issue carapace armour.

"Forward my brothers! For Horus and the Emperor!" Kernem cried, and with that the battle was joined. Kernem howled his glee into the warp-spawned night. They may not have been Fenrisian, but they were still wolves. Swaths of men fell to his lightning claws and storm bolter, to his right he saw what must have been a mighty battletank, but that had been before the Astartes came. Now its cannon was sheared in two by a powersword and the hull had been ripped open, most likely by a powerfist, and its crew stared in nameless horror at death. The adepts of death had come to Geneva.

Colonel Anders couldn't believe what he was seeing; 5 minutes ago it had been calm. Now he was emptying clips into these thrice damned demons ripping apart his company. Lightning struck one of the heavy tanks barricading the bridge to Earthdome, ripping the mighty machine asunder.

The last thing Colonel Leon Anders ever saw was a piece of glowing metal flying to meet him.

The Commander of the remaining heavy battletank stared in mute horror as the division colonel and six other men were vaporized by a giant PPG round fired by one of the advancing behemoths. He ordered his gunner to target anything moving, the gunner zeroing in on the one who had killed the colonel. Tank Commander Smithers quickly ordered him to fire.

As the 160 mm shell shot out of the barrel at velocities approaching mach 8, the targeted Battle-brother had no chance to move as the high explosive shell struck the energy cells, causing a devastating loss of containment, and a large section of the bridge was immolated in fire. As the haze cleared Tank Commander Smithers barely had time to cheer as a light grey figure screeched loudly before making an impossible leap onto his tank and slamming an inordinately huge axe through the turret and deep into the tank, killing the gunner. To his horror the monstrous being then proceeded to rip his tank open with its bare hands. When it had exposed him, he was ripped from his seat and found himself being held aloft as this creature that dented his tank with its sheer weight ripped the bloody axe free. It brought him close to its face and Smithers found himself looking into the cold lifeless eyes of the most powerful machine he had ever seen. And something had made this thing to resemble a great bird of prey.

The creature threw him down in disgust and, before Smithers had any time to run or react, the creature, the nightmare come-alive, had jumped off of his tank onto his ribcage, shattering it and crushing his heart and lungs. Tank Commander Allan 'Al' Smithers last thoughts were that he would never see his wife and two young girls again as he drowned in his own blood in front of the Gates to Earthdome.

The ten Brother-Sergeants gathered their squads in front of the might barricade gates of Earthdome; it was time for the second phase of Horus' plan.

At the marked time, the 98 remaining Luna Wolves razed their heads and howled, the synthesizers inside the helmet translating the howl and sending it out as a mighty falcon's cry. For the next few moments all was still, then the glowing figure of Brother-Lieutenant Hazarhun dropped from the sky, cracking pavement with his weight. The Lunar wolves then began stomping a cadence of war into the ground.

**Earthdome; T-3 minutes to assault:**

Commander Hank Scorpio was a very scared man, The 2,000 men inside the Earthdome compound, hardened marines all of them, had seen action and unparalleled success in the recent conflicts and so were the best and deadliest the military had, but now it seemed they were all trapped inside Earthdome, as the monsters weren't leaving. All over Earthdome the camera feeds from outside were showing the same things, a hundred falcon headed monsters stomping a rhythm, while a single jackal headed daemon was drawing glowing runes in mid air. Suddenly the jackal monster reached out a massive hand with clawed fingers, stretching out then closing them into a crimson fist.

A sound like a nuclear detonation echoed through the city of Geneva right before the mighty Titanium/Beryllium alloy doors, each weighing a massive 200,000lbs, ripped themselves free and were sent flying. One of the doors landed in the Palais des Nations; the other flew through the air before dropping and crushing much of the Watch Museum.

Time stood still in Geneva.

_Thud_, _Thud_ and a final _Thud_ sounded before Scorpio's mind truly registered what it had just seen. He had walked past those massive gates hundreds of times. They were meant to be able to hold off several shots from one the massive orbital defence railguns, yet he had just seen them ripped down by a single man without any obvious weapons. Terror gripping his heart, he looked over at Chairman Burns.

"Well old man, if they can do that, how do you suggest we stop them?" Asked Scorpio.

"Don't worry your empty head with that. I took the liberty of equipping all of the Marines in Earthdome with the new Heavy PPG rifles," answered Burns.

Scorpio sighed. He still didn't think it would be enough.

Brother-Lieutenant Hazarhun sent a mental signal to his Father-Primarch Magnus that the deeds were done. Only Earthdome now remained. The Psykers placed around the city began weaving and reforming reality to fit the plans of the Primarchs.

**Inside Earthdome: Assault begins:**

The marines of the 3rd army's 1st division were panicking. All around them were seeing ghosts, monsters and mythological beasts. It was as though each man's greatest fear had come to life.

Suddenly a great cry sounded and a ghostly copy of a falcon flew through the ranks of Earthforce marines, gripping their hearts in fear. Shortly after the falcon had disappeared, flying out through the ceiling, a great black jackal easily as large as a heavy tank came crashing through the ranks, and each man it touched knew the Fury of the Ancients. A few died instantly, their hearts stopping as the great predator flew through them.

While the marines were distracted fighting phantoms, the real monsters began their attack. The first barricades were torn apart as the armoured monsters advanced, a torrent of solid fire and energy weapons tore through the Earthforce men. In retaliation a wall of PPG fire lanced back into the marines. Scorch marks began marring the intruders' armor, but none of them fell. "Keep firing!" A Captain called, raising his rifle high. A moment later he was beheaded by the first marine to reach the EA's forward positions. The fountain of blood from his neck drenched the marines to either side of him. They had no time to panic, for a sweeping power sword cut them both in half before they could move.

Hazarhun sent a stream of warp-lightning streaking into an entrenched squad of enemy soldiers, burning the flesh from their bones in an instant. All around him a storm of weapons fire was steadily turning the ornamented halls and galleries of Earthdome into a cratered wasteland. Suddenly he sensed danger and hurled himself to the ground as a barrage of heavy slugs passed over his head. Using his helmet sensors he spotted a pair of soldiers manning a tripod mounted heavy stubber. Summoning his power, Hazarhun thrust his staff forward, launching a massive stream of warp fire. The multi-colored conflagration engulfing the two soldiers and left them nothing more than blackened husks.

"Forward bothers! For the Primarchs and the Emperor!" With a resounding cry the line of marines charged forward. A shoulder launched missile blew a marine's midsection apart, showering his brothers in crimson liquid and viscera. A burst from Brother Dalmov's assault cannon quickly reduced the missile man to a fine mist.

"Brother-Lieutenant!" A marine shouted, running up to him. "My auspex is reading a small group of life signs approaching from below us."

Casting his mental gaze towards the small group of enemies, Hazarhun felt the mental shock of psionic power. They were very weak; likely not even Delta or Gamma level. "Psykers," the Commander replied. "Continue the assault here. I will deal with this." Inside his helmet, Hazarhun smiled. He hoped these psykers could at least provide him with a challenge. Closing his eyes, he pushed his body a short distance through the warp, amazed at how calm it was. There were no gibbering daemons and no freezing wind eating into his flesh. Then he reappeared in a dank corridor he quickly recognized as a waste disposal line. The minds of his targets were approaching slowly. Cloaking himself from their perceptions, he moved in for the kill.

…

Damian Kelstren and his team of P12s slowly made his way through the waste disposal system, the last place the strange metal intruders would expect an assault from. The rest of the Psicorps squad spread out behind him. "Stay ready," he said with his mind, feeling the affirmatives from the other five PsiCops.

"_Wait!"_ Michael Inter mind-called. _"Something's up ahea-"_ his thought was cut off as his head exploded, showering the others with blood and brain matter. The PsiCops drew their silenced PPGs and opened fire on a massive figure now striding openly towards them. The PPG rounds seared into his armor, but it appeared to be impervious to the weapons fire. Raising what appeared to be a staff decorated with bands of silver and topped with a golden winged silver skull, he shot a bolt of lighting which vaporized Melissa Evanston, her scream echoing down the passage.

Terror now began to grip the minds of the remaining PsiCops. They had been trying to immobilize the armoured warrior since he had first appeared, but he showed no signs of even struggling. Gathering all his strength, Damian sent a lance of mental energy into the thing's mind. What happened next he would remember for the rest of his life. A wall of mental energy met his mental assault and stopped it so suddenly he winced. The power of this thing's mind was incredible.

"Please, do not continue," the thing said, both in the minds of the PsiCops and verbally. "I wish to kill no more of you. My superiors would prefer to accomplish this mission with as little bloodshed as possible."

"I don't believe you!" Michael shouted back. "You killed two members of my team!"

"They were loyal to the false government which has taken over. My leader wishes only to return Earth to the hands of her people."

Michael could feel the power of the thing's mind. It was beyond anything he had ever seen. He could have easily killed Michael's entire team instantly. "Why should I trust you?"

"Because," the metal machine replied, reaching up and tapping a hidden button causing its helmet to fold down into the collar with a series of audible clicks, revealing a black haired, green eyed, human "we're the same."

"You're human?" Michael asked in disbelief.

"Yes. My name is Hazarhun, of the Thousand Sons Legion. Now please listen. Your leaders are corrupt. My men and I have been sent to take back control of EarthDome and return the rule of Earth to the hands of its people. If you need further convincing tell me this. Did your leaders shield their minds from you?"

The look on the man's face was all the proof Hazarhun needed. "I can break through that and allow you to scan their minds directly. You have felt the power of my mind. I could easily rip the information I need from you, but each moment we stand here more of your soldiers are dying. One way or another this conflict will end, but it is up to you to determine the cost."

Michael's mind worked overtime for several long moments. Then he made his decision. "Follow me. The Senate Chamber isn't far from here." Turning, the other two PsiCops followed him. Hazarhun kept to the rear.

"What are we doing?" Alex Deldren mentally asked quietly, unaware that Hazarhun could hear every word being spoken.

"The right thing," Michael replied. "Hazarhun may be right, and even if he's not this battle was over before it began. The army attacking us is far too powerful to stop. Even we couldn't do anything. If we can save the lives of more of our fellow telepaths, then that's what I'm going to do."

"A wise decision," Hazarhun spoke, to the great surprise of the Psi Cops. "The power you have seen here is nothing compared to that of my Commanders."

…

"It would seem the battle is turning against us," Chairman Burns remarked upon seeing the enemy warriors advancing steadily down the halls of EarthDome. Only anti-tank weapons had any effect at all, and those were few and far between.

"I assume you have a plan?" Scorpio asked.

"Of course I do!" Burns replied, insulted. He tapped his link. "Burns to shuttle; move in. We're getting out of here."

"Understood sir, we're on our way. ETA four minutes," came the reply.

Gathering an armful of folders and papers, Burns started for the carved oak doors to the senate chamber. "Coming?" He asked Scorpio.

"Right," the Commander replied, seeing, just for a moment, the look of fear in Burns's eyes.

As the two rushed through the halls towards the landing pad, the sounds of battle receded into the distance.

"I think we may just survive this," Scorpio said under his breath.

…

"Just a little further," Michael said. "We're almost to the senate chamber."

"Wait!" Hazarhun called, coming to a stop. He closed his eyes and reached out with his mind. There were fewer minds in this section of the building and he quickly found that of the men they were looking for. Sensing the men's intentions, Hazarhun smiled and quickly sent a thought message to Brother Minzel, the strongest of the psykers outside maintaining Magnus's storm. He soon got the reply. "Now we move on. Our quarry's escape has just been cancelled.

…

Brother Minzel, from his perch atop a massive skyscraper, saw through the still growing storm a small shuttle making its way through the buffeting winds towards EarthDome. Gripping his staff tightly in one hand, he thrust the other forward and began to have his fun.

On board the shuttle controls began sparking out and flight control became erratic. The pilots struggled to regain control but with a shriek of tortured metal the shuttle's tail section was crushed. The craft plummeted towards the ground, but Minzel used his mind to keep it in the air. He could sense the despair of those aboard the shuttle, and with a smile he felt it ease as he stabilized the flight. But this lasted only a moment before Minzel, with a powerful mental pull, ripped the shuttle in half. Fuel ignited and the shuttle was reduced to scrap metal which rained down on the blood soaked ground below where thousands of Earthforce marines lay in pieces.

…

Burns felt the folders drop from his suddenly lifeless hands. His shuttle had just been torn in half by thin air. "Dear god; what are we fighting against?" He asked, falling to his knees. The sounds of fighting were coming closer now. Burn's personal security detail stationed at the stairs suddenly stopped transmitting. Drawing his personal weapon, Burns turned and found himself staring up at a massive armoured monster. His armor running with rain water and his staff and eyes glowing as the man gazed down at him.

"You are fighting against me," the figure replied. "Your false reign ends here Chairman Burns." Suddenly Burns felt something searing into his mind with another, weaker presence behind it. "Are you satisfied now?"

"I am," came a reply from behind the behemoth as Michael stepped into view. "You've deceived us all Chairman. You have ended thousands of lives just so you and your cohorts could have more power. You mundanes disgust me." Drawing a PPG pistol, he took aim at Burn's head, and smiled when he saw a yellow stain spread across the front of the Chairman's immaculate white pants. "I should kill you, but Brother Hazarhun has convinced me that a trial is more appropriate."

"Brother…?" Was Burns's only reply.

"Yes," Hazarhun spoke, revealing his features to the eyes of Burns and Scorpio, who already had his hands in the air. "We have come to rebuild the Earth Alliance and restore honourable leaders to power." The massive man stretched out his hand to Scorpio, who shaking, took it, his hand looking like a toy in the massive metal gauntlet in clasped. "People who know when it is right to surrender." With a gentle thought burst, Hazarhun sent Scorpio the images he had taken from Burns's mind.

"Yes," Scorpio replied. Activating his link he selected the general frequency. "This is Commander Scorpio to all Earth Alliance forces. Stand down; I repeat stand down."

All across EarthDome soldiers lay down their arms and were herded together but not harmed. The battle for EarthDome looked to be over.

…

As Burns was led away, he smiled. It wasn't over yet, he thought as he discretely activated a transmitter built into the heel of his boot. The reason the intruders had made such quick progress was because they had only been fighting expendable troops. Burn's true army, with heavy armor support, was even now moving at his signal to bring the true fight to these humans who had dared to defile his perfect world. "Oh yes, the fun is just beginning," he said to himself. "Just beginning."

**Same Time: Geneva: Switzerland**

Brother-Sergeant Hirvell had finished his assigned duties and was currently on Overwatch. It was just finishing in Earthdome, but it looked like it was going to start back up in the city. But this, this was interesting; his long range auspex had picked up a large convoy of armoured vehicles heading into the city and making straight for EarthDome. He used a quick mental impulse to start the nearby comm. gear and reported the approach of nearly 160 armoured vehicles of varying definitions, most fitting medium by the Imperium standard of thinking.

_**Command Centre: Orbital Deployment: Fist of Horus**_

"Report received Brother Hirvall," one of the bridge crew marines stated.

Horus, Magnus and High Magos Talos quickly gathered around a conference table, observing the mass of hostile icons pouring into the city of Geneva.

"I suggest we dispatch fighters and take them out," Magnus suggested. "They have little to no anti-aircraft defences remaining."

"No, the collateral damage would be too great," Horus replied. "We should use our own tanks to destroy them. Our Predators and Land Raiders could destroy them in short order."

"I believe I have a better idea Warmaster," Magos Talos stated. "If we wish to impress the people of this world with our power, I have just the forces to do it." He told them of his plan, and the two Primarchs smiled.

**Aboard the Sword of Mars: **

Tech Guard were running around in orderly patterns, getting everything prepared for 20 of the heaviest tanks they had would be going into battle; 10 Stormsword siege tanks, and 10 Baneblade superheavy tanks. General Halvorsen observed it all from his perch on a railing overhead.

A career tanker, General Alexander Halvorsen had fought on dozens of worlds against enemy armoured vehicles. His tank force, nicknamed the "Black Hammers" for their tactic of pounding one section of the enemy to pulp at a time, were among the most decorated forces in the Imperium. To him, his crews were family, and he would risk anything for them. He also respected his enemies and once, in a case of misdirected orders, he had risked his own life to save a group of refugees from death by another tank platoon. To the families and followers of the platoon, he was regarded almost as a father figure.

Most outsiders would not take this young looking man coming up to them and introducing himself as General seriously, but that was because at the age of 89 he still looked and moved like a man in his thirties thanks to his use of Juvenat Drugs. Commanding from his Baneblade, the _Lord of Destruction, _he was widely considered one of the deadliest and most able commanding officers in the Army.

The Black Hammers' most famous victory was the destruction of a force of fifteen Ork Gargants when ten of their number was stranded on Emphelas after their transport was shot down. After being rescued the crews, six of which survived, had received the highest honours available. The transport pilots made it as well and were now considered part of the platoon.

And now his men and his tanks were being readied to invade Terra.

…

In another section of the _Sword, _Magos Fellcourt was supervising the preparations for embarkation. A long-serving member of the Mechanicus, Fellcourt was nearly unbeatable in close combat. After nearly being killed while saving the life of a High Magos on Tellas Prime, he was elevated to the rank of Commander and placed in command of the Tech Guard regiments attached to the Lunar Wolves Legion. At 125 years he was fairly young for his position as Regiment Commander, but none dared dispute his skills.

In combat he used his bionics to literally run and jump circles around his enemies. His weapons, a power axe and a plasma gun as well as a personal force field, frag and krak grenades, made him useful in both personal and armoured combat. His personal shield, a gift from the Magos he had saved, afforded him protection from even plasma weaponry but shorted out quickly under sustained fire.

Unlike most of the Tech Guard, Moreth had a respect for the abilities of organics, and regularly spared with the marines and Guard troops around him. He has been beaten only twice, both times by Lieutenant Hazarhun. He was greatly respected and admired by the men under his command.

Currently Fellcourt was outfitting the 300 Tech Guard with anti-tank weaponry as they boarded their transports. Fellcourt and his men were taking part in the invasion of Terra so they could rule Mars. Once the planet was theirs, the Mechanicus would rebuild it in the image of the Omnissiah. From there new titan legions would be razed and new ships and weapons built. Soon Mars would become the backbone of the Imperial war machine in this place.

As the Heavy Dropships were taking off, Lightning class strike fighters were already coming back up from the surface where they had burned most of one of Geneva's largest parks to create a viable landing zone, and now a fresh group was escorting 4 Valkyrie transports carrying Admech Leman Russ Executioners to secure the LZ.

As the first dropship launched from the _Sword of Mars_, tank crews were confused to see a second heavy drop ship taking off, but figured it must have been more Tech Guard. The truth however, was that the second ship carried only 3 Tech Priests and a single war machine of unrivalled power.

As the assault transports entered the atmosphere, the men either began praying to the Gods or checking their weapons and ammo. This assault would be different than any other, for they were preparing to land on Holy Terra itself

The ride went far smoother then a normal contested landing usually did, mostly due to the fact that there was no defences left, so the smooth ride ended with a landing and a regulation disembarkation. As soon as the last of the superheavy tanks had rolled out, the transport quickly took off back towards the _Sword of Mars_

The second transport landed and General Halvorsen quickly ordered his tanks to form up and clear the perimeter as the folded up form of a massive Mars pattern Warhound was revealed. The transport slowly split its roof, allowing the Titan to disembark.

"This is the Titan _Garmr_ to General Halvorsen; you have command of the operation. We will be providing fire support and tactical Overwatch."

"General Halvorsen to Garmr, transmission copied and received."

…

The 160 Tanks and 30 Apc's belonging to the Earth Alliance's 3rd army's 1st and 4th divisions were rolling steadily into Geneva towards Earthdome.

Colonel Jason Mordon, a veteran of the past conflicts that had plagued Earth, was in command of this massive tank force. The latest battle reports stated that Earthdome had been completely overrun by "daemons," but this man knew the true value in any battle was not taking a location, it was holding it against focused assaults. "Taking it was easy holding it is hard" he remembered one of his old COs saying.

Unfortunately for the Colonel, there would be no focused assault of any kind, at least not from his troops.

…

As the powerful sensors of the Warhound watched the rebel tanks moving into the city, Princeps Ingalis was directing tanks to ambush positions while the Warhound and its four Executioner escorts moved toward the main force of enemy vehicles.

As the rebel tank forces were splitting up to move down the three main avenues leading towards Earthdome, they had no idea that positioned in parking garages, between buildings and off to the side of intersections, there were 40 of the most powerful tanks to ever roll on Terran soil, just about ready to pounce.

The leading edge of the rebel formations had spotted the Warhound and was desperately firing at the Titan while still keeping to their advance. Princeps Ingalis smiled as their petty weapons were effortlessly absorbed by his god-machine's Void shields.

…

As the first 10 tanks had rolled past his position, Captain Hollander requested permission to fire, it was denied. He was ordered to wait for the main body of tanks before unleashing the full fury of his Baneblade.

As the last elements of the rebel assault force rolled in past the seventh block of houses, the net closed and hell itself came in behind them.

Plasma flew between Executioners and the few modified Plasma tanks of the EA assault forces before the massive plasma blastgun of the _Garmr_ fired and quickly reduced four tanks to molten slag. But as the tanks belonging to the EA retreated, waiting for the counter advance of the enemy forces, then realised the tanks weren't moving and neither was the massive Walker.

It was ironically in the moment of clarity just before the scream of "AMBUSH!" sounded that 10 Baneblades closed in and unleashed hell with their massive battle cannons. The first salvo struck and 20 of the 50 encircled tanks exploded in brilliant plumes of smoke, flames and ammunition. Desperate calls for assistance and then mercy came from the EA tanks, but none came or was given.

As turrets swivelled to face the new threats, the Baneblades were already firing, twin-linked Lascannons and Demolishers striking and reducing the rest of the tanks to slag. It had taken all of 2 minutes from the first shots fired at the _Garmr_ to the last round fired by the Baneblade _Warspite_. The Imperium tanks slipped quietly through to the secondary positions nearer to Earthdome.

The second group of EA tanks contained a large force of plasma armed vehicles and the most fanatical of Burns' supporters. As such they also had advanced sensor equipment and so were able to pick up on the locations of the Stormswords waiting for them. Lead elements accelerated, turned their turrets and fired a devastating salvo, nearly vaporising one of the Stormswords, but immediately after came the counter assault and the 30 plasma enhanced tanks vanished in roaring explosions, taking most of other tanks with them in a huge explosion of nuclear fury. The 13 surviving tanks fled as fast as possible. Fear now gripped the defenders of EarthDome, but knowing they would likely die either way, chose to regroup and fight.

The third and final group included the 40 armoured personnel carriers of the armoured brigade, carrying nearly 450 heavy assault troops. But this group had only 20 old Mk III Merkava tanks. They were swiftly annihilated in a crossfire supplied by the 10 baneblades present. When the APC's rolled into the large 6-way round about they found themselves surround by massive tanks, and their retreat cut off by another pair of massive tanks. On the far end of the roundabout stood 300 cloaked and hooded men with an assortment of knifes, axe and swords. Then, when all was calm and quiet came a loud proclamation from one of the tanks.

"This is General Alexander Halvorsen of the Imperial Army to all Earthforce Personnel. You now have two options; either Surrender or face these men in close combat. I urge the former. We have no wish to kill you, but if you leave us no choice we will. "

The reply came swiftly from all the APC's. "No Surrender and No Retreat!"

The 450 armoured men of Burns' Own ran out of their APC's and charged with knifes drawn and bayonets fixed into the ranks of the Tech Guard. It was a slaughter. Plasma, melta and flamer weapons reduced dozens of men to charred ashes before they even entered melee range. There things deteriorated even further as the bionic enhancements of the Mechanicus troops proved their worth.

Magos Fellcourt entered the fray explosively. His power axe sheared through two men before he was reunited with the ground. His plasma pistol sent out blasts of superheated matter which incinerated a missile launcher team. His bionic limbs allowed him to move and fire with unerring precision. He bounded into the midst of a squad and he broke a neck with his first punch and carved three bodies in half before the others could respond. Jets of blood soared through the air as the Magos landed. The first enemy warrior raised his rifle, but Fellcourt kicked out and sent the man flying, his chest caved in. Moving faster than the eye could follow, the Magos turned and punched straight through the chest of a man aiming at him. Twisting his body around Fellcourt threw the man's body into his friends, knocking them down like pins.

…

Captain Jason Aslan watched as his men were cut down by the crimson cloaked warriors. They moved so fast and their weapons were far more powerful than his own. Nevertheless, he had sworn to defend Earth, and he would do so. "Forward men. For Earth!" He cried drawing his PPG and firing a pair of shots into the back of one of the enemy who was bust gutting Private Mlerrt. The rounds punched into the soldier's back armour, sending him sprawling to the ground. "See, they can be killed! Now fight!"

The EarthForce marines began to rally, but then a tall man with silver plated limbs landed near them. "Stand down and you will live," he said.

"Not a chance! You'll never conquer Earth!" Jason replied, bringing up his PPG and firing. To his complete and utter horror the shots were absorbed by some type of personal shield which flared around the man's body. In reply the man's own weapons spat a pulse of blue energy which vaporized both Jason's gun and his left arm. He fell to the ground as pain enveloped him like a blanket of needles. Through his tear stained eyes, he watched as the rest of his men were either cut down or captured. His blood was pouring out of him, but suddenly he felt himself being hoisted up. The last thing he saw before blacking out was the black mouth of one of the invaders' transports opening up to swallow him whole.

…

It was over. EarthDome was now firmly in the hands of the Astartes, and the Aquila banner fluttered from every tower and flag pole. The remaining senior military officers of EarthForce were gathered under guard, including Scorpio, who was the only one permitted to stand with Hazarhun.

"What is going to happen now?" Scorpio asked, indicating the captive Burns, who was now shackled and shivering in the cold morning air. His dark ringed, bloodshot eyes showed his despair. His gaze mostly lingered on the massive war machine Hazarhun had said was called a Warhound scout titan. The only thought which ran through Scorpio's mind when he saw it was that he certainly didn't want to be on the Astartes' bad side now.

"The former Chairman will be taken up to our battlebarge until a date is set for his trial," Hazarhun explained.

"What is a battlebarge if I may ask?" Scorpio politely inquired.

"Allow me to show you Commander." Hazarhun raised his staff and spoke a few words, causing his staff to shoot a bolt of brilliant azure light into the clouds. Slowly the black clouds overhead parted and vanished, revealing the clear blue sky, and the massive vessel hovering over the city. The ship loomed over the entire city, the morning light reflecting off its gold lined hull and glinting from adamantium spires. "The _Fist of Horus_," the Brother Lieutenant stated proudly. "One of our command ships and flagship of Warmaster Horus himself.

"My god," Scorpio whispered. Off to his left he saw Burns fall to his knees, cutting them open on the debris strewn ground. "And you have more of those ships?"

"Indeed. Now stand up straight Commander. You are about to meet the three men who will decide the fate of this world."

Slowly the shuttle landed, its thrusters sending debris skittering across the pad and blowing up a massive cloud of dust. When the turbulence faded the dust seemed to come together, form small pebbles and fall to the ground. The marines formed up into two lines, one grey and the other crimson.

Commander Scorpio wondered briefly which of the two lines would win in an all out engagement. Though there were only 10 crimson figures and nearly 100 of the whitish grey ones, he had not seen any of the grey ones rip two 200,000lb barricade gates from their place and send them flying nearly 3 miles. he HAD seen one of the crimson ones do that.

The shuttles ramp slowly lowered and the grey armoured marines fell to one knee with a sound like a thunderbolt. "HORUS!" They bellowed as a massive armoured figure emerged from the shuttle. He wore grey armour like most of the marines but far more ornamented. A golden falcon's head helmet concealed his features, and a massive sword was strapped to one hip, looking large enough to bisect a tank.

Suddenly a bolt of lightning to the right and slightly behind Horus, who paid it no mind, as though he had expected it. The crimson armoured figures slammed their staves into the ground then fell to their knees with a bellowed "MAGNUS!" As the lightning dissipated, where it had struck now stood a crimson armoured giant bearing a golden jackal headed helm, armed with only an ornate golden staff. The air around him seemed to bend and distort, as though he was being seen through a heat wave.

The final man to arrive stepped out of the shuttle, but without the thunderous ovation of the first two. He was of average height and swathed in a robe of purest black; the only visible pieces of him were a glinting arm of solid steel and a pair of glowing red eyes.

"High Magos Talus of the Adeptus Mechanicus!" One of the tech priests called out.

Commander Scorpio, looking up, was very surprised when the massive Warhound made something akin to a bow to this man; he hadn't thought it could do that.

As the first two figures neared to where Scorpio and the contingent from PsiCorps stood, Scorpio understood what Lieutenant Hazarhun had meant when he had spoken of the power his commanders had. First of all they were huge men, easily 5 feet wide at the shoulders and both of them must have been breaking 9 feet tall. They looked extremely intimidating in their helmets, but then he surmised that those helmets were very indicative of the status the men must have enjoyed, for as far he could see they were solid gold.

The huge helmeted men looked at Scorpio silently for several moments before he remembered himself. After having made introductions for the guards, he led the way towards the senate chamber where 80 senators were waiting for whatever was to come next.

…

Horus was enjoying the feel of Terran air, though he knew from speaking to Magnus that several things were not right in this place. First was the Immaterium, though now that he thought about it, the Immaterium issue didn't need solving, just exploration. But it begged the question, what else was different? They had recovered fragments from the sensor blip that had disappeared when they completed transition, and since those fragments were fist deep into the prow plating of _The Fist,_ he had inklings about what had happened to the ship. Among the debris found was a ship's log that, with a little help from the Admech, they managed to analyze, revealing the ship as the _Primus_ belonging to the Centauri Republic, and that it had been destroyed during a hyperspace transition, though the crystals used were exceedingly primitive.

As the group neared the Senate chamber the two Terminators posted as guards, one from the Luna Wolves and one from the Thousand Sons, wearing the new stylised helmets and looking for all the world as representations of ancient gods, opened the doors and announced into the chamber "Warmaster Horus, Legion Master Magnus and High Magos Talus Arriving".

As the three men entered the large circular chamber the whispered conversations between seats quickly stopped, leaving the room in complete silence except for the ringing footsteps of the Imperium delegation. The two massive armoured giants and the much smaller robed individual stopped in the centre of the chamber.

The grey armoured man was the first to move. Reaching up, he touched a point near the collar of his helmet, causing it to retract and exposing the man's human face to all. "Greetings honoured senators. I am Warmaster Horus of the Imperium of Mankind. I know many of you have questions, so let me begin by stating that we have no intention of militarily conquering your world. Rather, we have come here to form an alliance between us." The muttered conversations returned as the Warmaster continued.

"My fleet was on its way to our homeworld when we were caught in a hyperspace storm and blown far off course. Until we can find a way to return to our home, we intend to establish ourselves here. When your President was killed, we took it upon ourselves to find the guilty and bring them to justice. Even now they are aboard our flagship awaiting transportation to one of your courts."

"What are your plans for Earth?" Senator Kensy asked.

"We intend to construct defences and industry which will allow us to begin construction of starships and begin exploring the surrounding space," Horus replied. "Many of our vessels are also damaged and in need of repairs."

"Ok, but what about the rest of the solar system?" Senator Claidsdayle questioned. At that Magos Talus straightened and stepped forward.

"My people and I wish custodianship of Mars. From there will intend to construct the industry to begin work on new warships and weapons. Any currently living on Mars are welcome to stay and work alongside my men or be taken back to Earth," Talus answered.

"Now wait just a minute!" Senator Marcela, the ambassador of Mars began, but was interrupted by Kensy.

"Will you also be making more of those 'titan' machines?" Kensy asked. He had been an admirer of mecha ever since he had been a child, and now he had the chance to oversee production of weapons beyond anything Earth had ever seen.

"You are referring to the Warhound outside?" asked Talus.

"Yes, I am," stated Kensy.

"The Warhound is merely a scout titan. It is not meant for prolonged fighting. We have other models for that," Talus replied, enjoying the look of shock on the Senator's face. "But our first concern is the construction of defences. When our fleet first arrived we briefly detected an alien vessel near our emergence point. The contact was too brief to get a definitive classification, but we are certain it wasn't human."

"Could it have been a scout for an invasion fleet?" Senator Martel asked. Her father had claimed to have been abducted by aliens several times over the years. Could he have actually been telling the truth?

"It is a definite possibility," Horus replied, regaining control of the conversation. "Now then, we must reach a solution which will benefit both our peoples. My forces are very powerful as you have seen, but we are isolated, with no staging area to repair and rearm. You have the manpower and will to become a powerful force in this galaxy. Together we can explore the stars around us and humanity can change from a small one planet race to the strongest species in the galaxy. That is what happened on my world."

"And where is your world exactly?" Martel asked.

"Magnus, if you would?" Horus asked.

The crimson armored giant nodded. Extending his staff, he drew a glowing rune in the air. A moment later there came a flash of light and when it vanished, three red-robed men and what looked like a projection device stood in its place.

Immediately whispers and questions filled the room. Many Senators now spoke quietly of what level of technology this 'Imperium' had access to.

"What you have just seen is a demonstration of the power my brother Magnus posses, as do many of our marines. Now, allow us to show you the future we can achieve together."

At a motion from Horus one of the tech adepts activated the holo-projector, giving birth to a massive 50 foot high map of the galaxy. Most of it was dominated by a double headed eagle and colored a clear blue. Other portions were colored bright green, bright crimson and a hue of other colours.

"This is a tactical overview of our galaxy," Talus explained. "The blue area you see is under the control of the Imperium. Our Emperor was in the process of bringing the entire galaxy under mankind's dominion. The other areas are controlled by races such as Orks, Dark Eldar and other enemies too terrible to speak of."

"Do you believe those same enemies exist here?" Senator Rollino asked.

"For some it is possible, but I would have sensed the presence of the greatest threats," Magnus replied. "Threats to us that is. Every major enemy the Imperium has fought has been powerful, and in some cases entire fleets have been lost to them."

"You mean there could be races out there that are a threat even to you?"

"It is certainly possible, and yet another reason our people should cooperate with each other. If you would like, we can show you the enemies we have fought," Magnus offered.

"That would be helpful."

"Very well. Magos?"

"Of course," Talus replied, his mechadendrites extending and programming the holo-device. He map of the galaxy vanished, replaced with a snarling visage of a green skinned alien. Its skull was small, with the eyes sunken in, and a jutting mouth with large protruding tusks. It was garbed in tattered cloths and metal armor. In its hands it carried a massive pistol and a large machete. "This is an Ork. The Ork race is currently the greatest threat to Imperial expansion. They are a race of scavengers and inventors. They can create machines which should not be able to work, and indeed don't unless operated by Orks. Their starships are ramshackle collections of parts, but are still comparable in power and durability to Imperium warships."

"Show them a Gargant," Horus suggested. Talus nodded and the image of an Ork Gargant appeared. "This is what is known as a Gargant, an Ork equivalent to our Titans."

"Are they stronger than your titans?" Senator Kensy asked.

"No," Talus replied. "But the Orks can build them extremely quickly. Talus, show them a size comparison."

"Yes Warmaster," the High Magos replied. He quickly brought up an image of the different classes of titans in order, starting with the Warhound and a Reaver then moving up to a Warlord and finally an Imperator, which was so massive its holographic shoulder towers nearly touched the roof of the chamber. Beside each was its Ork equivalent. "These are the various classes of titans in production; Warhound, Reaver, Warlord, and finally Imperator level."

"My god," Kensy said. "Can you build all of these?"

"With the necessary recourses yes," Talus replied. "Now then, I believe the Dark Eldar were next. Primarch Magnus?"

"Our fleet had recently cleansed a world of Orks before being brought here," Magnus said. "Now, next we have the Dark Eldar. I suggest you be prepared; some have been known to loose their lunch when seeing this. Magos?"

"Very well," Talus replied, his thin tendrils of metal twitching as they sent data into the projection matrix. The Ork disappeared, replaced by a tall humanoid in light black armor and carrying a bladed rifle. Severed heads hung from his belt and a necklace of fingers was around his neck.

"This is a Dark Eldar warrior," Magnus explained. "They are a breakaway faction of a larger race known as the Eldar. They are pirates and slavers, taking civilians from their homes and either killing them or making them into slaves. Little is known about their culture, only that they come from a dark place they call Commoragh. Only two slaves I know of have managed to escape. I will make their journals available to you shortly. There is only one more enemy the Imperium has faced and fears, but the files on them are restricted."

"Why is that?" Marcela asked.

"Because people have been driven insane by seeing them," Horus replied, the tone in his voice leaving to room for argument. In his mind he could still see the forces of Chaos he had fought of Dorinnden 7 and Halcon 3. Chaos was the most insidious enemy the Imperium had faced, and its Greater Daemons were extremely tough opponents to defeat. If Chaos existed here it would mean great peril. Fortunately Magnus had not sensed Chaos in the Warp, which he had since learned was referred to as Hyperspace here. "Now, are there any questions before we move on?"

"If you really have the amount of power you claim, why are you even negotiating with us? Why not just state your demands and take what you need?" Senator William Clark asked. Several other Senators sighed. Clark was well known as a troublemaker, and had only gotten his senate position because of his family connections.

"Because," Horus replied with a stare which made Clark sweat "we are both human, and as such I personally think we should be united, not warring with each other. It has been proven in my galaxy that wars with human against human are always the most devastating. And even if we did conquer you, the resulting terrorism would delay our plans significantly. However, if other senators feel as you do Senator Clark, perhaps I should take my fleet and army and seek an alliance with one of the alien races in this space. Surely at least one of them would be interested in our power."

As Horus had expected, the senate chamber immediately erupted into shouts and insults, most of the latter directed at Senator Clark.

"Warmaster Horus, please ignore Senator Clark. He does not speak for all of us. We would be eager to begin negotiations to formalize our alliance," Kensy spoke. He and Clark would have a few words later.

"Excellent," Horus replied. Gesturing to Talus, a map of Earth was displayed, with the Imperial Aquila hovering over the South Pole. "My forces will base ourselves in Antarctica, keeping us out of the way, while Magos Talus and the Mechanicus will establish themselves on Mars. Once we have constructed enough facilities we will begin work on defences and new vessels which will have joint crews. Is this acceptable to you Senators?"

"We will debate your proposal Warmaster, but for now you may begin landings in the Antarctic," Senator Kensy replied.

"Thank you," Horus replied. "Contact me when you reach your decision. Magnus!"

"Of course brother," Magnus replied. Summoning his power, he teleported the Imperium delegation back up to the _Fist of Horus _above the city.

"What shall we do now?" Magnus asked.

"They gave us permission to land," Horus smiled. "I intend to do as they ask. Helmsman, take us into orbit and then prepare for an arctic landing."

"Yes Warmaster," came the reply as the _Fist of Horus _slowly ascended into space.

"It is strange Brother, seeing Terra like this," Horus commented as the green and blue orb of Earth became visible in its entirety.

"Indeed," Magnus replied. "Perhaps, if we ever find a way back to our home, we can bring the Imperium here. I'm sure Father would be pleased with it."

"I'm sure he would," Horus replied. "But for the time being we must accept the fact that we must rebuild the Imperium in this place. Helm, commence landing sequence."

"Landing sequence initiated Lord Horus." Slowly Earth grew in the view screen. The ice continent of Antarctica became larger as the Primarch Battlebarge descended, obliterating clouds in its wake. As the last vaporous barriers melted away the massive expanse of ice and snow was revealed. "

"All hands brace for landing," came a voice over the ship's speakers. Several moments later there was a deafening clang as _Fist of Horus _made contact with the surface. Massive networks of cracks spread out from the impact point, but thanks to the solid rock underneath the ship didn't sink into the sea. "Landing sequences complete Warmaster."

"Excellent. Begin unloading the supplies and setting up all of the surface facilities we have. From what I see in your mind Magnus we will likely be here a while."

"Only until Magos Talus is able to construct a full scale fortress and transport it here from Mars," Magnus replied with the hint of a smile on his lips.

"Very well," Horus sighed. "I'll be in my chambers if I'm needed."

…

The senate chamber was once again dominated by shouts and recriminations. The main screens were all dominated by the massive flagship of Horus making landfall in Antarctica. None of them had believed something so large COULD make a landing.

"SILENCE!" Senator Kensy shouted into his microphone, timing it just right so that the piercing ringing noise caused the other senators to cover their ears and stop their bickering. "Now then, I for one believe we should act to support Warmaster Horus. After all, he's the reason all of us are still alive."

"And how many loyal Earthforce soldiers are dead because of him?!" Senator Clark asked in reply.

"They were traitors who followed corrupt men. If we had been able we would have launched a counterattack of our own. And besides Senator Clark, if you would look over the Warmaster's battle report you would see he indeed tried to keep casualties to a minimum. We're all human too, even if the Warmasters fleet comes from another place in the galaxy."

"I say we take it to a vote," Senator Calderdale proposed.

"All right, let's vote," Senator Juntao agreed.

Ten minutes later the vote was decided. A 70 to 10 resulted in the approval of the Alliance Bill. The specifics would be decided on later, but for now humanity had taken the first step in becoming the rising star of the galaxy.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: There comes a Terran... what's a Terran?**

_Meanwhile on Centauri Prime…_

Lord Zel Refa was a happy man. Not only had the Mollari family gotten in trouble, they had done so by losing a prototype cruiser. Oh this was a good day for House Refa.

**Emperor's Palace: Capitol: Centauri Prime**

Lord Tar Mollari was shamed, shamed in front of the entire court because his idiot nephew had lost a cruiser and there had been no communications in 6 days.

Luckily all was not lost. He had the coordinates to where Carn had been taking the _Primus_, and he would go there with a small squadron of the new Vorchans and find out just what had happened.

For if something had happened to his nephew, he had to know.

Two days later 6 Vorchan let Centauri Prime, heading toward the last known coordinates of the _Primus._

**Primarch Class Fortress Battlebarge: Spear of Prospero: In Orbit of Terra**

Magnus was getting a headache; damage control and repair was coming along fine, if slightly ahead of schedule. They'd need a lot of dock work for many of the ships, but others were fine with changed pieces and parts, though the _Spear's_ mightiest weapon system, an experimental Assault Lance, would not be working for quite some time. A grand 240 sections of Plasma conduit connected to the weapon was totally fried and in need of replacing.

At least the Mars issue had been resolved quickly; at last reports they had landed near where the great Machine temple back home was located, on the southern edge of Syria Planum, if he remembered correctly. And so far it looked like the ten thousand colonists on Mars would stay and become citizens of the Imperium.

That in itself was good news, but also good was the nearly completed deployment of the modular strongholds carried on the_ Fist _and the _Spear_, though during the deployments in the beginning of the week they had hit a bit of an issue with an environmentalist group named Green Peace and flightless birds. The new Captain of Horus 1st Great Company had solved the issue admirably though.

It seemed that they had other problems though. When the_ Fist_ had landed it had apparently crushed a large organic structure hidden beneath the ice. The remains of said structure were now crawling and intermeshing with the hull of the_ Fist_.

They had tried to cut it away, however after a little while the cutters had zero effect and indeed seemed to accelerate the growth, but before they had to simply cut away the 14 sections of infested armor and hull, which would seal the fate of _the Fist_ when the sections were removed, they sent a Comm. signal to Captain Hazarhun, the Leader of the Thousand Sons contingent on world.

…

Hazarhun approached the yellow-green growth eating into the wall of the compartment ahead. It was moving slowly but from what the Warmaster had told him was starting to pick up speed. Conventional methods to remove it had failed, so Horus had decided to try something else.

Extending his staff, Hazarhun sent a blast of Warp-lightning into the material. Almost immediately yellow energy launched in return, traveling along Hazarhun's own energy and striking him. Oddly enough he felt little pain. Instead he heard something in his mind.

"PAIN! PAIN! HELP!" The voice screamed in Hazarhun's mind. Reacting instinctively, he captured the intruding presence and began to force it out of his mind, but then he stopped. This voice was coming from the growth on the hull. It was intelligent.

"Who are you?" Hazarhun asked.

"I..I..Do not remember..." It stated, a bit fearfully.

"What do you remember then?" Hazarhun asked a bit more forcefully.

"I..remember the Great Darkness, I think I liked it there, I remember listening to the glowersongs…"

"The Great Darkness? Where is that?" Hazarhun asked, though he suspected it meant space.

"We are in the cold place, the great darkness is above the cold place," the Entity stated, sounding very sure. "The other mindtalkers left me in this cold place for so long. Will you go away and leave me in this cold place?" It asked nervously.

"No, we wont leave you in this cold place, but you must talk to my Lord," Hazarhun stated

"That's good, I can talk to him, but he wont hurt me will he?" Asked the Entity fearfully.

"I will speak to him and he will not hurt you, but we must take you to him, so if you would please draw yourself together in this section only." Hazarhun said.

"I will try to do so," stated the Entity.

An hour later they were in business. The entity had insisted Hazarhun stay with it until its talk to Magnus.

It took nearly 5 hours to excise the section fully and hook it up to a sling carried by a thunderhawk.

After 20 minutes of flight up to _The Spear_ they were docked and ready to have the first official talk between the IoM and the Entity.

…

Hazarhun opened the door and stepped out to meet his Father-Primarch.

Magnus the Red cut an imposing figure, even to the captain of his Chosen, standing nearly 10 feet tall in ornate Artificier forged armour. Magnus had foregone all weapons except for an ornately carved silver staff, easily recognizable as the newly designed force staff used during the battle of Geneva. After an update to Magnus about the promise he made to the entity, Hazarhun left the hangar.

Magnus was bemused, but when Hazarhun had explained about the fact that the entity seemed to have intelligence comparable to a small child he knew that Hazarhun had made the right choice, even if it did limit his options.

Magnus stepped into the section of the_ Fist_ that this entity had bonded with and surveyed the entity before reaching out with his mind and started to speak with it.

"Entity, do you hear me?" Magnus asked.

"Yes, I hear you," the Entity answered.

"Entity, why were you under the ice?" asked Magnus.

"I was there to be a safe place for the other mindtalkers…when they made the small not-mindtalkers into mindtalkers, I didn't like what they did….it seemed it hurted the not mindtalkers lots and lots…but if I said I didn't like what they was doing the mindtalkers hurt me, please don't hurt on me…" the Entity seemed to shrink and shiver as if expecting a blow from Magnus.

"What did the small not talkers look like? Can you show me, Entity?

Magnus' mind was bombarded with images of human children from all races and breeds, many with bleeding wounds and near death. Other images showed adults in the same condition, and the last few images showed a being in a dark encounter suit and there were accompanied by overwhelming feelings of fear from the now immature intelligence.

Magnus cleared his mind and slowly reached out, calming the panicked Entity and soothing its fears as he slowly drew it back into conversation, asking if it would like to become a great protector of the small not-mindtalkers and the small mindtalkers, as well as all others that could not protect themselves. All the while, Magnus was subtly searching through the mind of this immature entity, searching for hidden programming or a hidden agenda that would pose a threat to the ship or the crew. Finding nothing, Magnus decided to entertain himself with the presence of this strange creature. It might make a nice pet at the very least. Though if it became a threat, it could be easily disposed of by Magnus or Horus.

"Yes…Yes," the Entity replied, a little unsure but then with great strength.

"Good, then I give you permission to meld with this vessel. What will you need to grow and be strong?" The Primarch asked.

"I always felt really good near the warm glowers and their songs, they make me feel strong."

"Good, I will leave you now. You can begin moving out of this pod, and when we reach orbit around the innermost wanderer, Mercurius, I will open these doors and let the glowsong in here," Magnus said.

The entity did not respond, at least not in any meaningful way, except for sending out waves of happy anticipation while starting to nervously creep out of the pod towards the airlock gates, and slowly covering the hangar floor.

…

When Magnus had arrived to the command deck and sat himself comfortably in his command throne, he ordered course set for geosynchronous dayside orbit of Mercurius, but before they could begin moving a sensor station reported incoming news.

"Milord, we have a 'hyperspace' event four thousand km off the aft bow."

"Bring the ship around; I want the first thing those intruders see to be our broadside," Magnus stated calmly

"Milord, four strike cruisers have maneuvered and are prow ward toward the disturbance," the sensor station stated.

"Good, put us behind the line of Strike cruisers," Magnus calmly commanded

As the calm blue vortex flared once, seven small vessels shaped like half-breeds between birds of prey and a cross exited. All were quickly identified by the remnant database salvaged from the _Primus_ wreckage as Vorchan class attack cruisers.

"Communications, did we have any luck with the communications workup in the wreckage?" Magnus asked

"No, unfortunately not. The techpriests said that it uses tachyon particles to send messages, though how it's done is beyond our understanding as of yet. While the techpriests and Adeptus are working on ways to use it, its still encryption based technology, Milord," the communications officer said.

"I see, we will have to go psychic then. Tell the strike cruisers to hold positions," Magnus said. A few seconds later the Primarch's eye glowed with icy ethereal power as he scanned the vessel and quickly found one of the Centauri within that was gifted with minor psychic abilities. He quickly submerged the mind of that being and took over.

…

To the crew of the Vorchan _Mollari's Pride_ it seemed as if they had dropped from Jumpspace into hell; in front of them were the largest ships anyone on the seven Vorchans had ever seen. The largest of the monstrosities out there was at least five times larger then the fleetyards above Homeworld.

Then the representative from the telepath guild staggered then seemed to grow, the meek and smaller then average telepath was suddenly dominating the bridge with the sheer majesty of his presence. As the Telepaths eyes opened, the crew knew that his body was no longer his own. Someone or _something _else was looking at them through the telepath's eyes, and his eyes burned with blue-white flames.

"I am Lord Magnus, Primarch of the 16th Legion. Who are you?"

"I am Lord Tar Mollari of the House Mollari of The Glorious Centauri Republic."

"Why are you here, Lord Mollari?" Came the deep resonant voice from within telepath.

"We are here to find one of our ships, a cruiser named _Primus,_" Mollari answered.

"It was destroyed. Leave Mollari," spoke the voice of Magnus.

"Wait!" Mollari cried.

"What do you want?" asked the voice in annoyance.

"I need to know how it was destroyed, and I demand you tell me!" Mollari spat.

"You can demand nothing, Lord Mollari," the voice said calmly.

Suddenly the ship shook and heaved, the captain of the Vorchan immediately screamed for damage report. All the Centauri paled as the sensor officers gave an ominous report. "Captain, Lord Mollari, we have just been scanned."

The Captain sat down heavily in his chair murmuring "Great Maker…"

The Telepath spoke. "Leave Mollari, while you still can."

"Wait! We came here to find out what happened. We mean you no harm. Perhaps we can talk and come to some sort of arrangement?"

The telepath merely looked at him.

"Very well, Mollari. You will gather 8 men, then you will stand in sight of this being."

Lord Tar Mollari was nervous but gathered up two guards and six assistants, and stood in line of sight of the possessed telepath.

The telepath turned to the Captain. "You will power down your combat systems and stand by until your men return."

The captain complied hurriedly and as the lights faded the telepaths eye's darkened and he fell to the floor. Barely a second before the Centauri entourage disappeared in a blinding flash of light.

To be Lord Tar Mollari in this moment was to be in a very bad mental place. He had just been ripped through reality by the will of another being. This being was now sitting in a huge throne at one end of the long table in this room. Guarding the doors were four similar beings, each wearing huge suits of blood red armour.

All of these beings resembled one of the ancient nature gods of the Centauri, from the eras before the Xon wars, except for the largest one. It was different. It was golden hued and with glowing ice blue eyes set into its helmet. He assumed it was the leader.

Lord Tar Mollari had never been a religious man, but he was a noble and as such had been taught the ancient speech and the benedictions for the oldest gods. He slowly spread his arms, palms facing the powerful being and spoke the benediction of the forest god, asking forgiveness and permission to seat himself and his entourage.

Magnus was very amused. This Lord Mollari thought him to be the ancient forest god of his world. Though he did not know the words he had sensed the thoughts and intention of the being who looked so like a Human. He gestured for them to seat themselves, though he issued the command for Mollari to seat himself on the opposite short end.

…

The massive being swept an arm out allowing them to sit but pointed at the opposite chair and a low smooth voice intoned "Mollari!"

Tar quickly swallowed, he had not expected this being to respond to the ancient phrase, but he quickly moved and sat as the doors opened, letting four beings enter, giants in armour of some fashion, though this armour was more mechanical looking than the others.

Magnus acknowledged the new guards from the heavy assault company, in their strengthened Mk III armor, the same type that protected his group of Chosen. It was fairly impressive, retaining the shape of the Mk III armor but with a protection and bulk only slightly less then a terminator suit.

As the four new guards entered, the Chosen guards silently sat down opposite the Centauri, and with little fanfare hidden buttons were pressed and helmets removed.

The eight Centauri nearly fainted as they saw that these Gods were in fact beings not unlike themselves. Lord Mollari swallowed, suddenly wishing he had a glass of water.

…

Magnus watched as the Centauri lord grew still as a glass of water floated into his field of vision, gently setting itself down in front of him.

"Well, Lord Mollari, what did you wish to trade?" Magnus spoke after going through Mollari's mind and pulling the language of the _Centauri _for future use while putting in enough information in this Xenos' head so that he would understand English, at the very least.

"Whatever it is you need-d, Lord Magnus," Mollari stated quickly, though he damned his stutter.

"Very well, I will supply you with a list of materials we have shortage of and you will tell me where I can buy them. Also, we wish to purchase extensive galactic star maps and information on the beacons in the redspace."

"Redspace? Ah yes, you mean Jump space? Yes, that is easy. They are there so ships won't get lost in transiting Jumpspace, and they've been around since the First Ones," said Mollari, though he was very unsure where this conversation was going. Perhaps these peoples didn't have Jumpgate or Jump-engine technology mastered yet. Perhaps house Mollari might be able to still make this meeting profitable.

"First Ones?" Asked Hazarhun, while the still helmeted Magnus listened on.

"Y...yes, groups like yourself, peoples with power unimaginable. Ancient beings," Mollari stammered slightly, trying to regain his composure in the presence of this being who radiated power like a god.

"How ancient exactly?" The low, dark voice of Lord Magnus asked.

"Hundreds of thousands of years in space, but most are just myth, though the Minbari might tell you about the Vorlons, should you get them to talk to you." stated Mollari.

"Minbari?" Hazarhun asked.

"The Minbari are almost legends. Very powerful. No race goes near them for fear of angering them. It is said that the Vorlons also have some relation to the Minbari as well, though no one can confirm that. The Minbari barely even speak with us, and we have been in space for almost a thousand years," Mollari stated.

"Vorlons?" Magnus asked in a bemused fashion at the description of the Minbari, yet still curious about these 'Vorlons.'

"Ancient and powerful, legends in their own right. Ships that go into their territories simply vanish and no survivors are ever found," Mollari said.

"Interesting," Magnus replied. Sending his thoughts to Hazarhun, the two quickly decided on what would happen next.

"Tell me Mollari," Hazarhun said, stepping forward "in the thousand years your people have been in space, what have you accomplished?"

"The Centauri are among the strongest of the space faring races," Mollari boasted. "Our empire stretches across a quarter of the galaxy! Even the Minbari fear our power."

"You are lying," Hazarhun replied, noting the brief anger which passed over the Centauri's face. "Your empire is crumbling. Your golden age ended long ago. I can see your thoughts; you can hide nothing from me."

"You're a telepath?" Mollari asked, suddenly very nervous. That feeling grew when the man speaking to him grew a broad grin.

"A Telepath? Please don't compare me to those weaklings. I am a psyker, far stronger than a mere telepath." Extending his hand, Hazarhun sent a short blast of warp lightning into a table just to the left of Mollari, shattering it and sending fragments bouncing across the room. "A small sample of my power," Hazarhun said with a smile.

Lord Mollari slowly picked himself up off the floor where he had fallen. His face was full of shock, but he quickly masked it. "I have never seen that power before," was all the Centauri could manage.

"As I said, that was a small sample of my abilities. I could give a larger demonstration. Tell me; are you fond of your ship?"

"Wait!" Mollari shouted. "I believe we can come to an agreement. While our empire may not be as powerful as it once was, its wealth has not diminished. I'm sure we can work out some sort of a trade."

"I was hoping you would say that," Hazarhun said. "And besides, I was never going to attack your ship. It would not have been enough of a challenge."

Mollari, needing a drink, reached into his robe, noticing the slight change in position of the armoured men as they readied their weapons. He withdrew his hand, clutching a bottle of Brivari. "Only a drink," he explained. "Brivari, very good for relaxing."

"I see," Hazarhun replied. Picking up a glass of amasec from a nearby servitor, he handed it to Mollari." Amasec, also very good. Try it."

Mollari took a tentative sip of the dark red liquid. Whatever this amasec was, it had a serious kick! "Perhaps we can negotiate an exchange of drinks as well."

"If you wish," said Magnus, speaking once more. "You appear to be an honourable man Mollari. I shall return you to your vessel. Gather the data on what I asked and contact me again."

"As you wish Lord Magnus," Mollari replied. A moment later he and his entourage found themselves back aboard their Vorchan. Lord Mollari immediately went to work collecting a list of everything his house could afford to trade. Based on what he had seen here, these Terrans were the strongest race the Centauri had ever encountered. If he could get them to sign an exclusive trading agreement with House Mollari…The possibilities were endless.

…

What do you make of these Centauri Hazarhun?" Magnus asked as he leaned back in his chair.

"If what I gleaned from Lord Mollari's mind holds true Lord Magnus, then they have the potential to be of great value to us. They have a strong fleet, but lack the will to truly use their power. That is their main weakness. I also sensed they are divided among several 'Houses.' Mollari will likely attempt to establish a trading arrangement which benefits only his faction of their government."

"Will he betray us?" Magnus asked.

"Not so long as he is benefiting from us my Lord. We can use Lord Mollari to obtain the materials needed to repair and expand our fleet. In return we can satisfy the Centauri with armor from our Imperial Army regiments and gravity generation technology. That should hold their interest for a time. Long enough to get what we need."

"Very well Hazarhun," Magnus replied. "Make the necessary preparations. I have business to attend to."

"Yes my Lord," Hazarhun retuned, bowing as the Primarch got to his feet and stalked out of the chamber.

…

Magnus road the lift down to the cargo bays, soon coming upon the ever-expanding form of the entity. It had already begun expanding out of the cargo bay and grafting itself onto the outer hull. "Entity," Magnus said with his mind. "Can you hear me?"

"I hear you Lord Magnus," the entity replied. "I have absorbed much knowledge since you left. I thank you and your people."

"Indeed," Magnus said. He had sensed the entity probing the minds of his crew to increase its own intelligence. "What is your progress?"

"The star songs are very warm here. I am growing quickly, but it will be long until I am whole again."

"There is no hurry," Magnus encouraged. "Take all the time you need."

"Thank you. I will help you for helping me. Together we will protect the small ones from the Mindwalkers."

"Yes, we will. Have you remembered anything else about the Mindwalkers?" Magnus asked.

"No, the memories are simply not there. I am sorry."

"Do not be. Simply concentrate on becoming whole; then we will focus on your lost memories."

"I will," the entity replied. "Thank you."

"You are welcome," Magnus replied as he turned to leave. From its thoughts he knew the entity wanted to remember who it was, but it was also afraid. One thing was sure however, its loyalty lay with the Imperium, and with Magnus.

…

Two days later Lord Mollari's small fleet left Sol with the promise of an exclusive trading arrangement in exchange for the right to trade at any Centauri port, though Lord Mollari had recommended a colony relatively near Sol which was run by his family.

The Imperium in return received the promise of vast amounts of metals and other materials with which they could rebuild and enhance both their fleet and the Sol system itself. Both sides were naturally suspicious of the other, but neither would make that first move. Not right away at least.

As Magnus was meditating in his private chambers, he was suddenly assaulted by a feeling of fiery rage and hatred so strong it made him see spots. He quickly forced contact with Horus, forcing the rage away, and after a quick retelling of the events that led to such a deep rage in his brother Magnus ordered the strike cruisers to resume patrols, and ordered a course set for Terran orbit.

**2 days Earlier: San Francisco**

It was a bright and sunny day in San Francisco. People bustled to and fro, and the streets were alive with the energy of business and the functions of daily life. Sitting at a café, two friends say there chatting as was their habit since they had been teenagers.

"Can you believe that Linda?" A red head beauty asked to her brunette compatriot.

"Actually, I can believe that Jesse," Linda stated.

"You know, if someone had told me a month ago that there was some human empire out there among the stars, I would have said they'd been watching too much science fiction. If someone had told me that Bellatrix, the queen of feminist rights and freedom, would be spending her time trying to bag a man from some interstellar empire, I would say that hell has frozen over," Jesse stated with a smile.

"Looks like hell froze over," Linda said with amusement.

"Well, you have to admit, as big as the pictures of those guys are, you have to wonder if the _rest_ of them are as big," Jesse said with a smile.

Catching the innuendo of that comment, Linda looked at her friend and laughed. Linda then arched an eyebrow and said "Down girl."

Pouting, Jesse looked her friend in the eyes and said "You're no fun at all."

**Unknown Location**

In six rooms across the planet, holographic projectors all displayed a black room with numbered monoliths that read "SEELE AUDIO ONLY" that were standing in a circle. Out of twelve monoliths, only six were currently present.

"FOUR MEMBERS OF SEELE ARE CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE, AND MEMBERS ZERO-ONE AND ONE-TWO HAVE BEEN CAPTURED," stated **monolith 04**.

"THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE!" Bellowed a distorted voice from the **monolith 03**.

"SEELE HAS STOOD FOR CENTURIES. THROUGH TIMES OF GOOD FORTUNE, AND TIMES OF ILL. WE SHALL SURVIVE AS WE ALWAYS HAVE. THE PUBLIC FACE OF OUR ORGANIZATION, **THE CABAL**, MUST NOT LEAD BACK TO US," declared **monolith 05**.

"WE MAY NO LONGER HAVE THE OPTION OF SEPARATING OURSELVES FROM **THE CABAL**, AS MANY OF OUR MEMBERS ARE PART OF **THE CABAL**. **THE CABAL** HAS BEEN THE _PUBLIC_ FACE OF SEELE FOR DECADES," **monolith 11** drawled.

"IS THERE IS NOTHING THAT CAN BE DONE?" asked the distorted voice from the **monolith 07**.

"MOST OF THE OPERATIVES OF BUREAU 13 HAVE EITHER BEEN CAPTURED, KILLED, OR HAVE GONE UNDERGROUND, YET THERE ARE STILL OPERATIVES WE CAN CALL UPON. THE QUESTION IS NOT WHAT WE HAVE TO USE. THE QUESTION IS HOW WE USE IT," stated **monolith 04**.

"DO ANY MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL HAVE ANY SUGGESTIONS, THEN, ON WHAT COURSE OF ACTIONS WE SHOULD TAKE?" Queried **monolith 03**.

"THE FIRST COURSE OF ACTION WE SHOULD TAKE IS TO HIDE OURSELVES SO THAT WE MAY ESCAPE THE WRATH OF THESE XENOS. **THE CABAL** _WILL_ FALL, LET'S MAKE NO MISTAKE OF THAT. WITH THE CAPTURE OF CHAIRMAN BURNS, WE TOO MAY FALL IF YOU DO NOT ACT QUICKLY," **monolith 11** spoke.

"WITH THE CAPTURE OF CHAIRMAN BURNS, WE SHOULD ASSUME THE WORST CASE SCENARIO, THAT HIS SUICIDE CHARGE HAS FAILED TO ACTIVATE, AND THAT HE HAS BEEN FORCED TO DISCLOSE OUR IDENTITIES," **monolith 03** said with resignation.

"**THE CABAL** WILL FALL, AND WITH IT, SOME OF OUR LONG TERM ASSOCIATES, AND THE COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS OF SEELE. WE MUST BUY TIME," **monolith 04** plainly spoke.

"FROM THE RECORDS OF THE SENATE WE HAVE SEEN THAT THE XENOS HAVE NOT YET TRIED TO REPLACE THE PUBLIC LEADERS FOR FEAR OF REBELLION AND TERRORISM. IF WE WERE TO INCITE THE PEOPLE, WE WOULD DISTRACT THESE XENOS LONG ENOUGH FOR US TO HIDE OURSELVES," **monolith 05** suggested.

"AGREED. WE SHALL ACTIVATE WHAT MEMBERS OF BUREAU 13 WE CAN TO CAUSE CHAOS UNTIL SUCH TIME THAT WE HAVE FOUND REFUGE. ALL IN FAVOUR?" **monolith 09** put forth.

Six voices then spoke a single word of consent.

"AGREED!"

**Geneva: Switzerland, _Earthdome_**

Senator Kensy was not having a good day. While Senator Kensy was ecstatic about the power that the IoM would soon be giving the fledgling Earth Alliance, he was starting to wonder if it was worth the amount of paperwork that seemed to have come with it.

Thinking about the "Big Picture" though, Kensy couldn't help but to smile to himself, though. Since the Adeptus Mechanicus had taken over Mars, Senator Marcela officially didn't have a world to represent anymore. Though technically, Senator Marcela was representing the corporations of Mars more than the people of Mars. And those corporations were screaming bloody murder about that. After all the money, time, and resources they had put into building up those colonies, Senator Kensy didn't blame them for being upset.

Though a few of the more _adept_ corporations has done the smart thing and asked if they could be of '_assistance'_ to the Adeptus Mechanicus on Mars. Surprisingly, almost all of the corporations that _asked_ were told they could be of vital help in the building of the Forges of Mars. It also didn't hurt that those corporations were getting technical knowledge from the Adeptus Mechanicus as part of the deal. Though the part that made Senator Kensy as giddy as a school child were the "Warhounds" that the Adeptus would eventually be making. Snapping himself out of his daydreams, he looked back towards the stack of paperwork on his desk and sighed when his phone started ringing.

Frowning at the ringing, Senator Kensy picked up the phone, expecting the other end to end up giving him more paperwork to deal with. Kensy was quite surprised when as soon as he picked up the phone he heard a very welcome voice on the other end.

"Hey Robert. How's work been treating you so far? No, wait, let me guess here. You're not actually working as much as you're hanging around daydreaming. Am I right? When are you going to get off your butt and get a _real_ job?" A voice said in a playfully taunting manner.

"Bill, that you?"

"Yep, it's you're ole pal Bill. Glad to know that you haven't went off and forgotten about me," Bill said, though his tone of voice said that he was smiling.

"Hey, how you been Bill? I haven't heard from you in months. Not since that one land deal you told me about. So, what're you up to? I don't usually hear from you unless you're got a deal for me, a favour you need, or you've got the time to go play a round of golf," Kensy said, hoping to bait his friend in a game of his favourite sport.

Laughing on the other end, Bill said "You know me well friend. I'm phoning 'cause I have a deal you need to see."

"Ok, where are you, and when do you want me to come meet you?" Kensy said happily.

"I'm out here in Spain. I'd like you to come out here in the next three days. Also, bring a few of your colleges with you," Bill said in a matter of fact tone.

"Bill," Kensy started, "Why do you want me to bring along a couple Senators on a Monday, a day you know that we'll be working?"

"Haven't you ever played hooky before Robert? I thought you could use a break. Besides, I wanted to do some golfing, and having a few extra people along for a game of golf never hurts," Bill answered in an almost childish glee.

Looking at the stack of paperwork still on his table, Kensy took a few seconds to think about Bill's proposal, and knowing that he was going to give in anyways, sighed. "Alright Bill, but I swear, if we come out there and you pull out some sort of pyramid scheme on us, I will not be a happy man."

Laughing at his friends mock-threat, Bill responded with a declaration of, "I wouldn't have it any other way Robert."

**In a hotel somewhere in Brussels**

"Yes, I understand. It shall be done," a slightly older man with graying hair said into the receiver of his cellphone.

"So…" began the slightly younger man sitting next to him, "What are our orders?"

"Well Biggs, it seems like the old men want us to stop by one of the Depots and pick up some fireworks and cause a little anarchy," the older man stated.

Whistling at the orders they had been given, Biggs looked at the older mans face. "Is that so? Damn Wedge, you'd think they want to start World War four while they're at it?"

"Not my place to judge kid," Wedge replied.

"I know. We do what we can to ensure the safety and freedom of all humanity. Doesn't mean I always have to like it though," Biggs said.

Looking at Biggs, Wedge sat up and went to the small refrigerator across the room. Feeling Biggs' eyes upon him, he opened up the refrigerators door and pulled out two beers. Handing one to his slightly younger friend, he raised his bottle in toast and said, "Death to the Xeno Empire then."

Raising his own bottle in response, Biggs touched the bottle in toast and followed suit. "Death to the Empire."

**In Geneva; Earthdome**

Senator Melissa Claidsdayle was not a happy woman at the moment. Since the arrival of the Imperium spaceships, the President of the Earth Alliance had been killed, there had been a coup, most of the senators had been imprisoned, the majority of the soldiers involved in the coup had been killed (destroying a large amount of property in the process), some secret organization the likes of which had been whispered about by conspiracy nutcases for almost two centuries had been proven to exist, and Mars had been _'claimed'_ by the Imperium of Man, well, by that other group called the _Adeptus Mechanicus_.

In short, the shit had hit the fan. What's more, the Senate had just been informed that the Imperium of Man spaceships were currently interrogating some alien vessels that had appeared in the solar system. "Could this day get any worse?" Melissa Claidsdayle thought to herself. Looking over at the empty seats in the Senate, she knew the answer. It figured that the lazy bastard Kensy and his merry band of misfits had got called away on "important business." Snorting in disgust, Melissa Claidsdayle knew he was probably out golfing. Angry at him for not being here, and envious that she herself had not been able to find an excuse to leave as well, she focused her attention back towards the Senate Floor.

Since the President of the EA had been killed, the constitution of the Earth Alliance had to be followed. Right now the Senate was in the process of swearing in the next in line for the Presidency. A man by the name of William H. Harrison. Melissa hoped that this guy didn't die as quickly as President as his namesake of the United States did.

William Harrison was a man of vigour, pride, and stubborn as steel. He didn't want the EA to become the lackey of any others, human or otherwise. Along with the emergency senate proposals that were to be voted on later today, Melissa doubted that the leaders of the Imperium would be very thrilled with the actions of the Senate today.

However, her colleagues felt that the peoples of the nations allied with the Earth Alliance needed to feel that their governments would not be cowed by the IoM; that the EA was still in control. "Ha!" Melissa thought to herself, "What a joke."

She was about to press the button on her desk panel to address the speaker when she felt the building shake, when her world suddenly went white. She saw nothing more after that.

**San Francisco:**

Linda had been walking with her friend Jesse when all of a sudden the ground began to shake.

Looking towards Jesse, she said the first thing that came to mind.

"An Earthquake?"

"Seems so, let's get the hell under a door or something," Jesse said while trying to run towards the closest building without falling on her ass.

As the two women gathered themselves under the door arches of the building, they looked inside and saw a group of frightened children huddling under the desks. A teacher was trying to calm them, but with the intensity of the shaking, even the adult was scared. Down the street, a series of buildings had started to collapse when Linda pushed Jesse into the inside of the building as the wall, and part of the door collapsed. Linda jumped inside to get out of the way of the debris that fell, but was pinned by a large piece of wood. A brick fell from the wall and hit Linda in the head and her world went black.

**In a newsroom in New York:**

People were running around frantically. Phones, pagers, and fax machines were all in a flurry of activity. The noise of the office rooms was overwhelming. Looking at the faces of those in the room, you could see some people were crying, some were angry, yelling for more information on exactly what was going on, and some had a blank haunted look on their faces. Whatever had happened, it was huge. In the room of the news room directors' office, shouting could be heard from a group of voices.

"…WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT'S GOING ON? THREE CITIES HAVE JUST BEEN NUKED, THERE IS CHAOS GOING ON ACROSS THE GLOBE, THREE OF THE SMALLER NATIONS HAVE ALREADY BEGUN FIGHTING EACH OTHER. SO WHY DON'T YOU TELL ME WHAT YOU DO KNOW!?" Bellowed the angry voice of the editor.

"Jeff, calm down," pleaded the voice of his secretary.

"DON'T YOU TELL ME TO CALM DOWN!"

"Jeff," began the voice of a friend, Cal Anders "Calm down. We'll get more work done calm than angry. Besides, sitting there yelling isn't good for your heart."

Looking at the faces of those around him, Jeffery Bastion sighed, knowing that they were right. Sitting down, he put his face in his hands for a moment, trying to regain his composure. After he felt that he had regained enough to begin conversing again, he looked at the people around him and asked "What do you know about what's happened so far?"

"We know that three cities have been nuked, and we know that two small military installations have been hit as well. Geneva, San Francisco, and a small town near one of those military bases. We think the small town may have been destroyed accidentally in the attack on the base in Colorado," Steven Smith said.

"Could it have been done by those aliens?" his secretary asked.

"Well, the places that were hit would make it look so," the voice of Hollison said. "There were a lot of groups and organizations in San Francisco that opposed those Imperium of Man guys. Of course, they'd oppose a ham sandwich if given the chance. Geneva, and Earthdome, were swearing in a new president for the Earth Alliance today. Some guy who didn't like the Imperium. What's more, the senate was going to be voting on some measures that wouldn't be entirely in the best interests of the Imperium, so they would have reason to do this. And the two bases that were hit are where they were making railguns and ammunition. However…"

"However what Hollison?" Jeff asked.

"However, this whole thing stinks like a set up," Hollison finished.

"So you think that someone set this up to make the Imperium hated?" Cal asked, very disturbed by the possibility.

"It doesn't matter Cal," Jeff said. "If the Imperium did this, all of Earth is going to rebel against these guys. And if the Imperium didn't do this, the Imperium would still have to prove that to be the case, and there will always be doubt in the minds of many. After all, in public opinion, you're guilty until proven innocent, and even then, you're not innocent in the eyes of the public."

Looking at the faces of those around him, Jeffery decided he needed to say something here and now. "Let's gather some evidence people. Don't let any of the newsroom reporters say that the Imperium is responsible for this. Not yet anyways. Let's get our facts straight first. How many reported do we have in the field right now that can set up coverage in Geneva or San Fran?"

**In Antarctica; _Fortress Astartes:_ Formerly Known as_ The Fist of Horus_**

Horus had been having a good day. Beyond the fact they were still interrogating Chairman Burns and Hank Scorpio, beyond the fact that his brother had taken the odd xeno growth that had been found on **_his_** ship as a pet, beyond the fact that he had a large stack of paperwork to finish, beyond the fact that there was still a great deal of repairs to be enacted upon the damaged fleet, and _beyond_ the fact that a small flotilla of xeno ships had appeared in-system, today had been very, _peaceful_, compared to many other days he had had. This was the true first time in centuries that Horus had felt this relaxed, and he planned on making the most of it.

Taking another sip of his drink, Horus leaned his chair back and let out a contented sigh. He had just closed his eyes when he felt that _something_ had happened on Holy Terra. Hearing a beep on the console on his desk, Horus sat back up, and activated his desks comm. system.

"Warmaster Horus, we have reports of nuclear detonations occurring just a few minutes ago in Geneva, the city of San Francisco, and two small military bases on the North American continent," the comms. Officer reported.

"What?!" Horus asked, rage shattering the calm that had been there only a few minutes earlier. His bottle of amasec shattering in his hand. "Do we have any reports on who did this yet? And how bad is the damage?"

"The _Ardua Astra _has done an initial scan of the two major cities before we were contacted. Geneva has been levelled. There are no survivors. San Francisco has been hit hard. The nuke itself had been set slightly underground, hitting one of fault lines that the city sits on. At least half of the city has been destroyed by a combination of the blast and the following earthquake, while the other half has either collapsed or is currently on fire."

"Was this done by those Xenos vessels that Magnus has been negotiating with?" Horus asked.

"No Warmaster, it was not."

Sighing, Horus pulled up a list of vessels that still had functioning shields, ground transports, and the extra men needed for what Horus was thinking of doing.

"I want you to contact the _Acheron's Talon' _and have them prepare a ground rescue operation. I want every man, woman, and child in San Francisco still alive to be rescued and transported out of that city. I also want to know who is responsible, and I want their heads on my desk on a silver platter."

"Yes Warmaster, it shall be done."

"Comms. Officer, while you're sending those orders out, I also want you to get in contact with any surviving members of Earthdome, and get them aboard this vessel. Send a Thunderhawk out to pick them up," Horus said with a smile, imagining the looks on their faces when they saw their transport.

**In Orbit; _Acheron's Talon:_**

"Sir, we have an incoming transmission from The Fortress," the ships comm. Officers stated.

"Put it on screen Lieutenant," the captain ordered.

"Aye sir, on screen now."

Looking at the screen, the captain saw the face of Horus appear.

"What can I do for you, Milord Warmaster?" The captain asked while nodding to his commander.

"There have been several nuclear detonations in the cities of Geneva and San Francisco Captain MacKenzie," Horus stated, fury laced with every word. With each word, St. John Mackenzie's face lost more and more of its colour, his face going blank.

Staring directly at his commander's face, MacKenzie stood as cold and lifeless as a statue, though those in the room could see that he was fighting the urge to throw out a string of curses that would make even the hardened Astartes blush. When MacKenzie spoke, it was with a calm that was utterly frightening. "What are our orders, Milord?"

"You're to have your ground and air companies prepare for a rescue operation in San Francisco. Seeing as how we don't know exactly what the situation is in terms of whether there are hostiles in the area or not, you're to send a few defensive armaments along with the heavy equipment needed to clear away debris," Horus said.

"Aye sir. Is there anything else?" MacKenzie asked in a crisp manner.

"Yes, there are two things shipmaster MacKenzie. We need you to send out a thunderhawk to a…" Horus paused a moment to look down at a data pad, 'Golf Course' in southern Spain. There are a few Earth Alliance senators out there. We have the data frequencies for their homing implants. I would like them transported to the fortress post haste."

"It shall be done Warmaster. And the other thing?" MacKenzie asked.

"How have your crew and yourself been holding up?"

Sighing, the shipmaster shook his head and then dejectedly answered. "They're doing their best, even better than their best, and I am proud of them for that, but even so, morale is low. Most of the crew had families and homes to return to. Homes they may never see again. I can't speak for the other ships or their crews, but even so…"

"I see," Horus said, "Thank you shipmaster. Warmaster Horus out."

"My Lord," MacKenzie said respectfully as the communication ended. Turning to face his crew, he was proud to see them already preparing for the orders they knew were to come. Speaking to his communications officer, he said "Get me the commander of the hanger bay on the line. Get a hold of at least three of the Tech priests, and get orders for our ground teams to assemble in the hanger in five minutes.

We've got work to do people, and God willing, we're going to get it done!"

_**On a Sunny Golf Course; Spain**_

Robert Kensy was having a good day. The air was fresh, the sun was shining, the grass was green, and he was three shots under par. It was a good day.

What made this day even better though was the sight of Senator Martel fuming as he desperately tried to get his ball out of a sand-trap. The fact that he was four shots over par wasn't a bad addition to this good day either. It was enough to make Kensy smirk.

Off to the side, Robert Kensy saw Bill Hatherson chatting with a few fellow senators. It had been three days since Bill had phoned. It had taken some persuasion, but Kensy felt the results were worth it. After all, with himself, Senator Juntao, Senator Álvaro, Senator Martel and Senator Clark had all met in Spain for a series of important meetings on the economy. They would need an informal conference to discuss the events that had happened, and the actions that would need to be taken. And what better place for an 'informal conference' than a golf course?

However it seemed they were not going to get a peaceful day, on the horizon but rapidly approaching were a strange boxy aircraft.

As the craft approached it became easily recognisable to the senators as a Thunderhawk, a heavily armed and armoured shuttlecraft of the Imperium. As the craft closed it went into a vertical drop and touched down seemingly light as a feather on the green, crushing Senator Juntao's golfball under an armoured landing strut. Out of the Thunderhawk came the now familiar forms of 10 Astartes warriors.

The lead Astartes, bearing a large submachine gun in one hand and what looked like an overlarge chainsaw turned into a sword in the other, stepped forward and motioned the Senators to come closer.

When the group of Senators had approached, the leader introduced himself. "I am Sergeant Ckrius Jeran of the Luna Wolves. Gentlemen, you will accompany us to the Fortress."

"Why should we accompany you, Sergeant?" Asked Senator Álvaro.

The Sergeant slowly turned his head, pinning the Senator with an arctic glance.

"Because, _honoured_ Senators, as of 12:34 this day, Geneva, San Francisco and one of the main defence yards near the city of Reno, have all been destroyed by nuclear attacks. The Warmaster has requested your presence as you are presently the sum total of the Earth Alliance Senate," Jeran stated.

The senators paled and gibbered lightly before Kensy managed to shake it off to relay a feeble reply. "O-of course we will come, Sergeant." The senators quickly moved into the Thunderhawk and, after being properly settled in the craft, it took off towards the Fortress Astartes at nearly 4 times the speed of sound.

_**Ground Zero: San Francisco**_

As the Thunderhawk was taking off from the Spanish golf course several dozen of their brethren were carrying nearly a thousand marines, Imperial Navy SaR teams and several Techpriests, a hundred menials and a dozen Chimera APC's to aid in the search and rescue operations in San Francisco. As the 62 Thunderhawks and 28 Vultures hit the bay area they could immediately see that things geographically were not as they had been briefed. A large section of the northern peninsula up to near San Rafael had been completely submerged and most of the Bay area was rubble and being consumed by flames.

After they had managed to clear a landing site near the ruined wreckage of City Hall, the Astartes and Navy men set out in groups of 8 to find survivors, while the Mechanicus used massive stabilizers to quiet the earthquakes and the Chimera company started clearing rubble and building debris to enable setting up a field hospital and a zone for larger evacuation craft to land.

**2 hours after take off from Spain: _Fortress Astartes_**

The senators had all seen Antarctica and they had all seen images of a battle barge. However, what greeted them was a sight none of them would ever forget. Around the massive form of the battle barge lay concentric rings of building and defences. Massive cannons and missile pods where set-up everywhere, and around these buildings were rings of bunkers and buildings connected by an intricate web of tunnels. They later learned that these outer buildings were the Army barracks.

The Thunderhawk touched down in the main hangar of the Fortress, and the Senators where led out of the small ship and saw two rows of Astartes standing as an honour guard.

After the Sergeant had spoken to and dismissed the honour guard they continued.

The odd little group of 10 marines escorting 6 middle aged senators dressed in golfing clothes walked across the hangar into an elevator and finally, after 20 minutes of traversing the dizzying maze of corridors, arrived in the Fortress's Command centre where they could see the massive form of the Warmaster coordinating the rescue efforts in San Francisco.

As the Warmaster raised his head the Astartes escorting the senators came to attention, the Warmaster quickly moved around the table, greeting the senators and dismissing the squad to their posts with a few quick words.

The Warmaster quickly moved back toward the holo map showing the real-time locations of the search teams. So far nearly 300 people had been rescued from the masses of rubble, many needing medical care. One of the earliest finds had been very uplifting for the morale of the search and rescue forces; an entire class of kindergarteners, their teacher, guide and two young women with fairly minor injuries.

The small children had at first been very afraid of the Astartes, but the first armoured monster took its helmet off and showed them he was just a really big man in a suit. The children, and the adults that could walk where quickly taken to the now completed field hospital to be checked for non-visible trauma then sent away to any family not in the city.

Horus looked at the Senators, his features slowly settling into a mask of grim fury and determination. "Gentlemen, the gauntlet has been thrown. You are what remain of the Earth Alliance leadership. Five minutes ago I ordered the complete harvesting of all information from Senator Burns. In another 20 minutes we will know everything he knew," Horus stated.

"Are there any survivors from Geneva, Lord Horus?" Asked Senator Clark softly.

"None at all, Senator I'm sorry to say," Horus replied.

The men watched as the normally so aggressive man sunk to his knees and wept. Senators Martel and Juntao quietly took the crushed man and sat him in one of the chairs a few metres away.

As Senators Kensy, Juntao and the Warmaster were discussing the ramifications of these assaults and the formation of an interim government as a solution to aid in an effort to stabilize the planet, former Senator C. Montgomery Burns was having his mind sifted thru and ripped apart by the skilled mindtouch of Brother-Lieutenant Minzel of the Thousand Sons. In a steady trickle the true names and faces of the masterminds behind the events became clear.

Minzel had a servitor write down all the names and places, as well as fortuitously enough the codes for these men and women's homing beacons. It seemed they were all extremely important people.

"Good, that will make it easy," Minzel thought, turning his gaze back to Burns, who by now was nothing more than a drooling vegetable after the brutal mindtouch. After the final useful information was taken from the senator's mind, Minzel vaporized the Senator's brain.

"Justice has been Served," Minzel stated coldly. The Lieutenant quickly stepped out of the cell and walked to the cogitator console in the guard room and punched in his access code and a priority call for the Command Centre.

…

After about five minutes of silently observing the rescue efforts and the large swarms of neutral blue dots now moving into the area from all directions, the Fortress's powerful comm. systems had quickly hooked up a comm line to the American rescue chief.

After a few minutes of talking it was decided that the Astartes, Army and Mechanicus forces in the area would be subordinate to him for the duration of the search and rescue operation with the navy forces joining the paramedics. As much as Horus resented the idea of his marines obeying someone outside the Imperium chain of command, he knew they needed good press now, and proving cooperative was a good start.

Just as they had finished that hurdle, the comms chirped happily and announced "Lieutenant Minzel from the Detention block for the Warmaster."

Horus quickly tapped in his access code and without preamble asked "do you have them Minzel?"

"Yes, Milord we have a list of names, addresses and locations," Minzel's voice replied.

"Good, send it here and then resume your normal duties," Horus said. He quickly looked at the list before handing it to Kensy and asking if any of the names were familiar. Kensy quickly scanned the list before growing pale and turning towards the one Earth humans that didn't seem subdued by the News.

"Bill? Why is your name on this list?" Robert Kensy asked his long time friend.

"That's simple, Bob, I was one of the eighteen responsible," Hatherson said, smiling before turning to Horus.

"Warmaster Horus, I surrend-eugh," the words were cut off as the large form of an Astartes combat blade suddenly shot out five inches from his chest.

A second later William Clark was wrestled to the ground and held at bolter point by two of the Astartes as the now dead Bill Hatherson fell face first into the floor, the knife plunged into his back to the hilt.

Horus look at the corpse before smiling a small thin smile then looked at Clark.

"Theft is crime punishable by 2 days in the brig," Horus stated

"It is justified, Lord Horus. My brother and his family resided in Geneva. He had admitted guilt and any court on this world would have sentenced him to death. I did not wish to wait," William Clark stated calmly.

The massive Warmaster looked at the man that had at one time been one of his staunchest opponents.

"Guards! Take him away; confine him to guest quarters, two days for stealing."

**2 Hours later**

Seventeen of the functioning vessels of the IoM fleet were taking up orbital positions for a single alpha strike. Seventeen lance shots and this conflict would be over.

After the ships had all reported to be in position Horus quietly ordered the only planetary bombardment by starships in the history of Terra. Seventeen extremely high powered maser beams lashed out, annihilating ten mansions, four penthouses and accompanying buildings, two large manor houses and one Castle.

Horus was well aware of the outcry that would follow this, but Kensy and the Senators here were trusted men and all had agreed that the information gathered would be released to the public.

…

After nearly a month of searching and many rescues and tragedies, it was clear that out of the Bay Area's eight million inhabitants nearly 6 million had died, most from the violent Earthquake and its aftershocks. The resulting fires had acted as the Funeral pyre of the Earth Alliance.

The initial quake had measured an unprecedented 12.6 on the Richter scale. The total loss of life in SEELE's final blow came to 7,346,716 people dead.

In the wake of the conflict and the death of SEELE, the Terran Alliance was born giving the continents of Earth the Astartes and the Admech equal say in a grand council, after the publishing of information taken and bought from Centauri.

The recruitment offices had been trampled, the army was quickly recouping personnel lost during the SEELE conflict, the Navy's ranks swelled, the engineering corps quickly sent its veteran corps' to Mars to aid and learn from the Adeptus Mechanicus. The Merchant Marine though lacking in ships now had nearly 40000 recruits…it was decided that a ship would be crewed with merchant mariners and sent to the Deriha system.

**1 month after the SEELE issues resolve: Orbital Repair yard Tycho**

Captain Elizabeth Devens relaxed in her chair, the creaking of the old but comfortable fabric momentarily overpowering the groans and buzzes of her beloved ship being carved up and remade to act as a trading vessel of all things. "I'm the master of a warship," she cursed to herself. She had fought hard to become one of the few female Cruiser Captains in the Imperial Navy.

Just as she was getting ready to start throwing her less breakable objects around her spacious ready room her main cogitator signalled an incoming message from Admiral Kohath, the commander of one of the main contingents of the Imperium fleet.

Entering her access code, she waited patiently until the Admiral came on screen. He was an old man, with grey hair layering its way down his neck and several scars from his many years of service to the Imperium.

"Admiral, I assume you're calling to tell me why my ship is being torn apart around me?"

"Yes Captain," Admiral Kohath replied. "Your ship has been selected for a mission of vital importance to the Imperium. We have recently established a dialogue with a race known as the Centauri. They have invited us to one of their trading posts. To that end your ship is being refitted to pose as a trading vessel."

"Why refit sir? My ship has more than enough cargo space as it is."

"True Captain, but the Warmaster does not wish to show our full capabilities to the Centauri just yet. That is why we are installing three additional cargo bays and removing the majority of your heavy weapons."

"You're leaving us defenceless?" Captain Devens asked.

"Of course not Captain. Your point defences and heavy plasma batteries should be more than enough, and we are leaving your void shields intact, though you should use them only if necessary. Don't let your emotions cloud your judgment Captain Devens. This mission could lead to the beginnings of our expansion in this place."

"I understand sir, but as a shipmaster yourself I'm sure you can appreciate the feeling of having your ship torn up around you."

"Of course Captain, but if this mission is a success you may just get a promotion."

"I'll see what I can do sir," Devens replied.

"Good, I look forward to hearing of your success. If possible, focus your trading efforts towards acquiring stellar maps and refined metals for our ship construction efforts."

"Understood Admiral."

"Good luck Captain. Kohath out."

Once the Admiral's image had vanished Devens stepped out onto her command deck. Her crew saluted quickly before resuming their duties.

"Hathington, how long until we're ready to depart?"

"Three hours fifteen minutes Captain," the Flag Lieutenant replied.

"Excellent. We should be receiving our navigational data soon. Once we're ready, disengage from dock and move us out to our warp translation point."

"Aye Captain," Hathington replied as he received reports from across the ship on the status of the refit. When it was complete the ship would hardly be recognizable, at least in battle. But if the Warmaster thought the idea was sound, then Hathington had faith enough to trust that, as long as he had the final say in a few things of course.

Four hours later the _Falcon's Cry _entered the Warp, the jump much smoother than usual. The shimmering realm of energy closed around the Imperium cruiser, the Gellar field glowing faintly as it reflected the ethereal energies and the Strike Cruiser slid through the Immaterium, on course for its first test in this new galaxy.

…

Lord Doji strode into the control centre of his trading station, the crew glancing up and acknowledging him. The bottle of Brivari in his hand meant salutes weren't necessary. "Have we received any further word from the Terrans?" He asked, his voice still crisp and clear despite the half-empty state of the bottle.

"None yet Lord," a young Centauri replied from across the room. His hair indicated he was not of high standing, but he managed his station with expert skill.

"Just how impressive can these Terrans be?" Caral, one of the docking operators asked. "If they are small enough to have escaped the notice of the great Centauri republic they can't be that powerful."

"Don't be so sure," Doji replied. "Lord Mollari said he lacked the words to describe their ships."

"Which likely meant they were too ugly for words," Caral replied, generating laughter from the rest of the Centauri in the room.

Lord Doji moved over to the main window, looking out upon the hundreds of ships plying the system. Nearly every known race traded in this system, from the Brakiri and Drazi to the prideful Dilgar. Great Maker, they had even seen a Minbari Cruiser a few days ago, a truly once in a lifetime event.

The Deriha system was known for the quality of its products, which consisted mainly of metal ores and crops from the southern continent. Though it wasn't much, it was the first step on his journey to the Royal Court. "And now," Lord Doji said to himself, "I get to make the first deals with a new race."

"Lord Doji, I am picking up a disturbance. Distance five thousand kilometers," came a call from the scanner post, the Centauri there furrowing his brow in confusion. "I've never seen anything like it."

"Put it up on the main screen," Doji ordered, watching as a section of space was torn open in a violent flood of ghostly energy. It was like to jump point he had ever seen. Rather than gracefully soaring out of a blue jump vortex, an absolutely massive vessel appeared to tear its way into normal space, ghostly energy of seemingly a thousand colours swishing around it. The vortex lasted only an instant, then all eyes drifted to the ship.

"Great Maker," Doji whispered. The human ship was by far the largest space going construct he had ever laid eyes on. It had to be at least four kilometers long, with a hull made of gunmetal grey armor plating and several spires soaring from near its engines, the central one he assumed to be the command section. Several large hatches adorned its prow, as well a golden rendering of a double headed bird, its wings spread wide and seeming to envelop all around it. For a moment Doji even believed he could hear the bird's predatory cry.

"We…are receiving a signal," came a stuttering reply. "Shall we respond?"

"Yes, of course," Doji managed to choke out. His throat was suddenly dry. The human vessel easily dominated the attention of the entire system. The station's sensors were recording dozens of hails directed at the massive vessel, but it was only transmitting to the station, though it was on an open channel.

"This is the bulk freighter _Falcon's Cry _to Centauri station. On behalf of the Terran Alliance we thank you for having us. We now request permission to descend to the surface and begin our trading operations."

"Direct and polite at the same time, a good combination," Doji replied. "I would prefer to meet you in person before we begin our exchange however."

"Very well, we will come over in five minutes. _Falcon's Cry _out."

The Terrans were true to their word. Five minutes later a large shuttle landed in one of the station's many docking bays. As the hatch opened Doji took a moment to adjust a few strands of hair and smooth an imaginary crease in his uniform, which glinted in the light. Around him six security officers stood, hefting their polished rifles. Doji wanted to make sure the Terrans were impressed.

The first two people out of the shuttle quickly shattered any hopes Doji had of intimidation. Two massive armoured figures, each at least three meters tall clad in cumbersome looking grey armor stood at attention on either side of the shuttle ramp. Each hefted a huge four barrelled cannon, raising it in what Doji assumed was some sort of salute.

The next pair to exit the shuttle were more along the lines of what Doji had expected. A man and a woman, both dressed in rich blue robes trimmed with gold descended gracefully. The man was a few inches taller than Doji and seemed to have one of his hands encased in metal. His short brown hair ended sharply at his ears, and Doji took note of the large sword strapped to one side of his waist.

The woman a bit shorter, but her deep blue eyes seemed to demand attention. A cascade of rich blond hair fell down her back in a gentle wave, and her robes more resembled a dress. Doji was surprised when she stepped forward first. "Greetings, I'm Captain Elizabeth Devens of the Terran Alliance Bulk freighter _Falcon's Cry. _My second in Command Peter Hathington, and Battle-brothers Moreth and Burel of my ship's security detail. It's a pleasure to meet you," she said, extending her hand.

"It…It is an honour Captain Devens," Lord Doji managed to reply. "I am Lord Doji, master of this station." He took the Captain's grip, finding it quite form for a woman. It appeared that these humans placed their men and woman on equal standing, quite unlike the Centauri. "If you will follow me, I have prepared a meal for you."

"Thank you," Elizabeth replied. As Doji escorted them through the station they drew plenty of glances, especially the Marines. Finally though, they arrived at a private suite. A meal was waiting on the table, situated to give the diners a dazzling view of the stars.

"Shall we?" Doji invited, and the two humans took their seats. The armoured guards took up positions near the door, their massive cannons pointed slightly down, but Doji suspected they could bring them to bear in an instant. "So, tell me about where you come from?"

For the next hour Doji learned about the world of Earth, its culture and its people, but the humans carefully avoided any discussion about their military strength or the location of their world. Doji found the humans to be good company. They had a sense of humour and even introduced him to a new game they called poker.

"Well then," Captain Devens said as she finished her last bite. "I think we've gotten to know each other well enough to begin our operation. Would it be acceptable for my men to land on your world and begin trade negotiations? We have studied the law information your Lord Mollari provided us and will conduct ourselves respectfully."

"Very well," Doji replied. "I doubt your vessel could approach too close to our station anyway without disrupting the traffic flow." He stopped when the human Captain smiled in a way he found slightly unnerving.

Reaching into her robes, Elizabeth withdrew a small communicator. "Commander Mizaki, you are clear to begin landing operations. Just don't squash anyone," she added with a smile.

"Understood Captain, see you on the ground," came a male reply.

Out in space the _Falcon's Cry _reoriented itself, angling to that its nose faced the planet. Gathering speed, it prepared to enter the atmosphere.

"What is your ship doing?!" Doji asked. Now he began to understand why the human woman was smiling.

"Landing of course. You did give us permission."

"Yes but…Something that size is incapable of landing on a planet!"

"Not where we come from. It is somewhat complicated, but still easily achieved" Captain Devens replied. "I think we should head to your office if you're still interested in establishing an official trading agreement with us."

"Oh yes, of course." As Doji led the humans up to his main office near the control section, he sincerely hoped no one on the ground would be injured when the massive Terran Alliance ship made planet fall. A single thought filled his mind the entire trip to his office. If one of the humans' freighters was this impressive, what would one of their warships be capable of?

…

Ranger Derall looked up from his cup of jalla as a huge rumbling filled the air around him. He had been stationed on this planet for nearly three years, listening for rumors of the Shadows. The people here had gradually accepted the old Minbari. He simply walked around, talking with people and occasionally getting messages from his wife back on Minbar, except that his "wife" was merely a cover identity for Ranger One, the leader of his order. With all the traffic that passed through this system it was inevitable if the Shadows stirred, word of it would pass through here. In all his time here he had never heard such a sound. It was similar to the landings the shuttles at the spaceport made, but a hundred times louder.

The restaurant quickly began emptying around him. Deciding to see what the fuss was about, he slowly got to his feel, old bones protesting the movement. Once he merged into the sunlight he had to fight to keep himself from falling to his knees. Pushing its way down through a thick cloud bank was a massive vessel, easily several kilometres long and with a golden double-headed bird painted on its underside.

"In Valen's name," Derall whispered, tough he wouldn't have been overheard had he shouted. Quickly making his way through the crown, he headed for his apartment. The Grey Council needed to learn of this. Then he would pay a visit to the ship itself if he could. One thing kept pounding its way through his mind. Who were these new aliens, and what did they want?

…

A massive crowd had gathered around the Terran Alliance vessel. Ramps were opening along its sides and dozens of people who looked almost exactly like Centauri were descending, but it was the massive armoured giants who walked with them which drew most of the attention. The giants moved very quickly despite their armor, moving the crowns back as one of the terrans, a tall dark skinned man dressed in long black robes stood on a box and raised a bullhorn to his lips. "I am Mark Mishanon, lead trader of the _Falcon's Cry _of the Terran Alliance. I hope you appreciated our entrance. Now then, we will be setting up our trading posts shortly. If you wish to do business with us, please form orderly lines and we will see what we can do. We will also not tolerate any thievery or violence. Any such attempts will be dealt with." As the man lowered his bullhorn the 12 marines together stamped a foot into the metal of the ramps, causing more than a few in the crowd to flinch.

Over the next few hours trading went on at a frenzied pace. The humans brought out seemingly endless supplies of personal armour and samples of gravity generating metal plates. In return they received offers in the form of everything from food stuffs to precious metals. Refined metals and food stuffs received the most attention, though a Centauri merchant walked away with several crates of armor and gravity plating he planned to study and resell later in exchange for star maps of the surrounding sectors.

Traffic through the city rapidly drained as thousands rushed to the landed ship. Other than what they offered, the Terran received extremely generous offers for data on their ship and its systems, but their offers were politely declined. Several became angry, but a few bolts from a Marine's gun into the ground dissuaded any further attempts at violence as well as sparking dozens of requests for weapons technology.

Finally the Terrans had sold everything they had brought, much to the surprise of Captain Devens. As she relaxed in her command throne with a bottle of Brivari she had received from Lord Doji she gave a sigh of contentment. "I think that was an excellent day," she said to her command crew. While a good part of the crew was composed of humans from Earth, Devens, the senior crew and security personnel were part of the original crew. She was one of the very few female Captains in the Imperial Navy, and had worked hard to attain her position.

"Indeed," Lt. Heruman replied from tactical. "I'd say we made quite the impression. Word of our capabilities should reach many of the nearby worlds soon, and they will believe they have seen our strength."

"But they still know nothing of our power," Devens replied. "Open a link to Commander Hathington."

"Yes Captain?" Came the reply a moment later. Hathington had chosen to remain on the station in order to barter with Lord Doji for the components to construct what everyone around here called a "Jump Gate."

"Were your negotiations successful?"

"They were. I'll transmit the list of payment to you now."

Devens reviewed Doji's price. It was high, but for such advanced technology it was acceptable. She was thankful in that moment that one of the Earth Senators had chosen to load several crates with various oddities from Earth. "You never know what the tastes of your next customer might be," he had said. Now it looked like he had been correct.

"Very well; we'll transfer the components by shuttle. Good work Commander. Devens out."

…

K'loth watched nervously as the timer counted down the time until the exit to normal space.

"Are you sure your informant is reliable?" Correl, the leader of the Brakiri component of his pirate fleet asked.

"He can be trusted," T'lor replied. "And while I agree such a well defended system would normally be avoided by us, this new ship is simply too tempting a target. If we can capture it imagine what we might find, and what we can do with it."

"I agree. Still, I have contributed substantially to our partnership. I expect a proportionate share of the spoils."

"Of course my friend," T'lor replied, hiding a frown. The Brakiri were merchants, not raiders, but the power of their ships, especially enhanced with his heavy weapons, was undeniable.

"We are ready to jump to normal space," T'kal called out from the helm.

"Very good, all ships jump! May G'Quan protect us," K'loth whispered.

…

The_ Falcon's Cry _had departed the Centauri station waypoint and begun a hard burn for the warp translation point.

"Ten minutes to Warp point Captain," Hathington called out. Suddenly alarms began sounding across the command deck. "Sensors are detecting multiple jump point forming, three thousand kilometres ahead. Based on the data we obtained, we're reading 20 Narn vessels, 7 Brakiri cruisers and 13 Drazi Sun Hawks. They're arming weapons and launching fighters. Orders?"

"Well now, it seems we're going to get a chance to test out our new combat systems after all."

"Message from Lord Doji. He's scrambling his defence fleet to assist us."

"Tell him not to bother. Activate all weapons and bring Void Shields up to full power. All hands, battle stations!"

As alert klaxons began blaring through the ship Captain Devens smiled. She had always been a show off, and now she was going to get a chance to show an entire system what even a watered down Imperium ship was capable of.

…

Lord Doji watched as the Terran freighter swung around to present its broadside to the incoming pirates. "What are they thinking?" He asked himself. The Terran Captain had told him they required no assistance.

"Lord Doji, the Terran ship has just activated some sort of energy field. Our sensors can no longer scan them."

"What!?" Doji exclaimed. He watched in amazement as 80 armor plates on the Terran ship, 40 on either side, retracted and from each hole extended a quad barrelled cannon. As the pirate fighters moved in the turrets came alive in a storm of fire and light. Each turret sent streams of explosive shells and stuttering pulses of light into the nearly 200 enemy strike craft. Nearly a third were obliterated in the first thirty seconds as the turrets tracked them with blinding speed. It was almost as if the turrets were slowing down to fire, like they were used to far speedier targets. The remaining fighters began a deadly dance, their fire harmlessly impacting on Void Shields. Across the system you could practically hear the intakes of breath as the Terran shields lit up.

"My Lord, the enemy capital ships are moving up."

"What is the reaction from the Terran ship?"

"They are moving…Directly toward them."

"What are they thinking?" Doji asked.

…

"Enemy capital ships have entered range," Hathington called out.

"Open main ports. Let's show them our big guns," Captain Devens replied with a smile. "Time to show these people who's boss."

Eight massive armor plates slid along the hull of the _Falcon's Cry, _revealing the massive barrels of the ship's compliment of plasma cannons. As the enemy vessels began opening up, the Terran freighter allowed them to fire a few volleys. The ship shook a bit, but the only thing that was broken was Captain Devens' drinking goblet.

"Ok, I've had it! All batteries, open fire!"

"Yes ma'am!" Tactical replied. A moment later space itself appeared to catch fire. Huge bursts of plasma, each one hotter than a sun, tore into the enemy fleet. With each hit a ship was torn to shreds or simply vanished. Explosion after explosion lit the space around the Terran ship. It was a god of death, swatting aside the puny mortals who dared challenge it.

Within a minute the firestorm faded, leaving behind the wrecks of nearly twenty enemy ships. The rest had been completely vaporized.

…

On the Centauri station the occupants were frozen.

"Great Maker," Lord Doji whispered. "If one of their cargo transports can do that, what are their warships capable of?" As Doji stared, the Terran freighter vanished into another cloud of ghostly blue energy, fading into nothing. The Terran Alliance had left its mark, and the entire galaxy would soon realize space had new masters.

…

Anla'shok Derall quickly made his way to the small apartment where he kept residence. It was not much more then a bed and a food storage unit, but it was enough. Making sure the blinds were shut and after scanning for listening devices, Derall activated his stellarcomm unit and waited.

After nearly an hour, the screen flickered and the image of Derall's superior appeared. An old Minbari male, the man had a thick beard and a scar running from his right cheek up to his eye.

"Entil'zha," Derall spoke in reverence. "I have urgent news."

"That much is obvious, or else you would have used our standard message channels," the head ranger replied. "What is this urgent news?"

"A new race has entered this system. They call themselves the Terran Alliance, and their technology is beyond anything I have ever seen. Their ship, which they designated as a freighter, was larger than even then a Sharlin War Cruiser, and even more, was able to affect a landing on the surface."

"That is not possible," the Entil'zha replied.

"Yet I saw it with my own eyes. The ship also possesses extraordinary offensive and defensive systems. They are able to generate some form of energy shield, and were able to destroy a large pirate force single-handedly. I have collected all the information I have been able to gather. It should reach you within three weeks, sooner if one of our ships can retrieve it en route."

"Very well; I will bring word of this to the Council. Until then, remain vigilant and gather what data you can."

"Of course Entil'zha. Vigilance through all darkness."

"And forever shall the watchers stand against that darkness."

"I will contact you again if I learn more," Derall said as he ended the transmission. He knew he had to learn where these Terrans had come from. They could represent a threat to the Minbari, but he could not shake the feeling he had seen a ship like that before.

…

Entil'zha Neeral slowly stood, his old bones protesting the movement. In his decades of service to the Rangers he had seen more than most had dreamed. He had watched for the darkness and the return of the Shadows. On his countless missions into the astral void he had fought the Drakh, an evil servant race of the shadows. One of them had given him the scar he now wore proudly as a mark of courage.

Stepping into a lift, he allowed it to transport him to the very bottom of the Rangers' Fortress headquarters. The beautiful crystal pillars down here were tarnished with age, and ancient glow lamps flickered slowly, but the power was still here. It was an invisible force, yet solid enough to be felt by anyone treading here. It flowed through the walls and permeated the air.

Finally reaching a pair of immense crystal doors, Neeral placed his hand at the centre and watched as patterns of light radiated out, illuminating the ancient runes transcribed by Valen himself. The doors slowly opened and Neeral stepped inside. The interior was dark, with only a single pillar of light descending from the vaulted ceiling, illuminating a massive suit of armor.

"Great Valen, the time has come at last," Neeral intoned, slowly stepping forward into the light. This close the scale of Valen's Armor truly became apparent. Neeral's head barely came up to the suit's chest plate. The colour of dark stone, engraved with many holy litanies and texts. The Armor of Valen was one of the Minbari's holiest relics, and had been entrusted to the Rangers by Valen after the defeat of the Shadows a thousand years ago. "The messenger has made its appearance. Soon the fires shall begin."

The pillar of light flickered and a small opening appeared in the floor. Reaching down, Neeral withdrew a black box, intricately decorated with a winged skull insignia upon its lid. Opening the small thing, Neeral's breath caught in his throat. Making a low bow to the armor, he quickly made his way out of the chamber. The Nine had to be informed.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: The Past Future and the Present made Past.

Geneva, formerly Earthdome, Memorial site.

10 years had past…10 years to the day of their arrival, 10 years since the death of millions of innocents, when completed the site of their memory consisted of a vast marble foundation lain with such precision it would appear to any aerial observer as a single circle of white marble 17 square miles in diameter, in the centre of the grand complex stood in 4 staggered rings of 12, 48 great red granite obelisks, each measuring 32 meters tall, capped with gold and each inscribed with the names of an even number of victims.

In the centre of this circle of blood red obelisks stood a massive golden statue of the Archangel Michael, the statue stood tall looking at the world with an expression of determined fury, its massive eagle like pinions unfurled and extending 12 feet to each side, a massive golden blade held high.

Master Chaplain Devinian of the Word Bearers Legion looked on the finished site with pride in his hearts; this was a very good memorial and the symbolism was stunning, the massive complex stood in the centre of the Geneva ruins, a city never to be rebuilt, a memorial unto itself.

He knew that the Primarchs had balked at using the image of their beloved brother Sanguinus, as a model for the memorial; he had however been able to talk them into it knowing that the humans of this Terra knew nought of the Lord of Angels.

It had been 10 years of progress, 10 years of rebuilding and it had been 10 years on the small planet Terra in an almost forgotten sector of the galaxy bordering unknown space, that one of the most fateful meetings had taken place, what was said is not very important what followed it is what shocked the people of Terra.

**The Great Rebirth and the coming of the 8th and 17th, Terra, 154.M3**

**The Great Culling and the Meaning of Terror, Earth, AD 2154**

To the men and women of the Astartes, the Imperial Army and Imperial Navy what the Lord Horus and Magnus had been able to accomplish meant a lot, it meant a return to normal duties it meant increased shelters it meant a new level of infrastructure and it meant a clean up of criminality on Terra.

It marked the true beginning for the takeover by the Imperium in this place.

To the people of Earth when the announcement went out that the majority of criminals on death row in all nations affiliated with the Terran Alliance, would be sent to Astartes to serve the remainder of their existence in a useful manner, there was chaos on the streets, as the press got a hold of information saying that the prisoners would be processed into being servitors and others were slated for the Revival project.

Now the people of Earth had no true idea of just what the Revival project was but they had seen Servitors, so a number of petitions went out over the net, requesting retrials for all but the most violent sociopathic offenders, in the nations not enjoying membership in the EA things were becoming bad.

Despite the misgivings and outright protests of the public, the prisoner transfers were made as scheduled aswell the inhabitants of several orphanages; many thousands of boys between the ages of 6 and 8 were chosen and became wards of the Astartes, all in all nearly 80000 men and boys of the EA were sent to the Fortress Astartes never to return.

**The Coming of the Dark.**

It was during this time that many smaller nations decided to seek Protection from the only force truly strong enough to provide it, many Micronesian and Polynesian countries applied to the Astartes for alliance treaties and mutual defence pacts, Horus and Magnus knew that these nations would be of no use militarily but they could be used to provide the Fortress Continent with food and fresh recruits.

The world was heading for a war, a war none of the alien powers in the galaxy would ever know about, it was a war that would spread the legend of the Dark Justice of the Astartes thru out the Terran Domains and onto the traders and well in to the other galactic powers, it was a war that would give birth to the Cult of the Emperor on the EA Terra, and it was a war that would show the world.

**The True Meaning of Terror**.

It was in the countries of Lebanon and Israel a war that had been raging for nearly a century and a half between the Israeli Defence Forces and the freedom fighters known as Hezbollah had flared up, once again the media were sending out pictures of children killed by advanced Israeli munitions, bodies burned to unrecognisable crisps by 8th generation DIMEs and the Hezbollah militia sending rocket propelled grenades and launching long range rockets bought from Islamic nations such as Islamic Republic of Iran and the Shiite Republic of Iraq slamming into Israeli holdings along the south bank of the Nahr el Litani. The Earth Alliance Senate and Military were fed up and decided they would do nothing except use embargoes to stop it; nothing they had done militarily for nearly 150 years had helped.

Horus was greatly angered by this inactivity but knew he could not interfere with the running of things in countries that had nothing to do with the EA or the Astartes forces; it would ruin the quiet takeover.

So it was with great joy and happiness that the message sent by the Lebanese government requesting help to stop the conflict by anyone out there was received, as the strategic command centre had been monitoring the situation for the past couple of weeks, they had plenty of data, and he had just the people to solve this little Crisis, he would send a small force consisting of 100 servitors, a single army regiment ceded to the 17th Legion; The Word Bearers, The 20 Initiate Chaplains of the Word Bearers aswell as the Master Chaplain Devinian, and the sum total of the Honour Guard, his brother had posted with him, 126 Astartes of the 8th Legion; The Night Lords.

Horus quickly responded to the Lebanese governments request and convinced that the lands running along the north bank of the Nahr el Lîtâni and 10 km's north of the river should be ceded to the military jurisdiction of the Astartes.

The Religious mindset of the Word Bearer Chaplain and his retinue of initiates took the name of the river as a good omen for the campaign and during the 3 day cease fire during the 8th yearly remembrance of Geneva, the Astartes made their move, a chain of outposts and military bunkers were quickly set up along the Nahr el Lîtâni and the area between it and the Jordanian border became host to the main stronghold of the combined forces of the 8th and 17th Legions.

On the 1st day of the Holy month Ramadan, the world woke to a great calamity, 21 Israeli strike craft that had crossed over into the airspace of Lebanon had been lost.

**IDF Command Post, 16km's south of the Nahr el Lîtâni, Israeli Occupied Territories, Lebanon**

General Aviel Yachiel of the IDF was not having a good dawn, the entire strike force had been destroyed just seconds after entering Lebanese air space, The Hezbollah didn't have the firepower for that so that meant Lebanon had to have gotten help, probably from the Jordanians or the Syrians and on top of all this the command centre had called him and said they had something he really really should see.

As he entered the command centre it was silent as the grave, the monitors where not showing the tactical maps like they should, and instead they were showing one of three things: some where showing a banner bearing a flame superimposed over a book on a dark grey backing, others were showing a banner bearing the image of a skull with a spiked blood red halo and two large red bat wings. The third item shown was a loop replaying the same message over and over:

_**Behold the Coming of the Lords of Night **_

_**To all who fight in Lebanon and Northern Israel **_

_**know that from this day any man of Israel found**_

_**north of the Nahr el Lîtâni will be given justice in**_

_**in the shadows of the Night, and should more**_

_**then a score of the men of Israel die in the Night **_

_**Then by the 7th day shall the City of Kings **_

_**Become a City of Flame **_

When the message had played thru it showed the banners side by side with the Roman numerals for 17 and 8 underneath.

While the Israeli army had received this friendly message the situation north of the Lîtâni had during the night taken a decidedly different turn, several teams of rocketeers had been found and told in no uncertain terms that from this night they would cease their attacks and the next team found would be set as an example to the land of the Law of The Night Haunter.

As the second day's back broke into night both Hezbollah and the Israeli Defence Forces decided to wage open war on the streets of the Lîtâni's north bank, that was the first mistake, the second and last mistake was doing it at night, when the sons of Konrad Curze, The Legion who's Father-Primarchs very name inspired fear in most of a Segmentum, had the full advantage.

It began with screams, and the sound of revving motors as the sons and daughters of Israel moved into the cities they found places that seemed like judgement come early, men ripped to shreds and walls covered in gruesome texts and symbols, the texts were written in the blood of the Hezbollah fighters and written in Hebrew and Arabic was the simple message.

_You have broken the Law and you will be given Justice, prepare yourselves_.

Half an hour after they passed the warning, the column of the sons and daughters of Israel heard a soft ominous whisper coming from the shadows all around them "We… have… come… for… you..." seconds later the screaming began anew, this time the screams for mercy and blood that painted the walls and streets were Hebrew not Arabic.

General Yachiel paled as the sounds of motors and ripping flesh echoed softly under the screams of the soldiers put under his command, he looked at the transcript of the message that been displayed a day earlier, He looked to the north wondering if he had doomed them all.

That morning the world's news agencies reported from the Lîtâni river, on the north bank of the river stood 620 crosses And adorning those crosses were the bloody remains of nearly 600 men and women, many barely recognizable as once having been human. Many were missing limbs, and others had their internal organs exposed and glistening in the early moring sun, among the soldiers of Israel were fighters of Hezbollah but all were wrapped in the bloodied and torn banners of their countries and the idols of their faiths, the gruesome sight played itself out across the world.

In the middle of the river, sat a large barge, burnt into its deck was the message.

**_In this place the Laws of the Night Haunter apply. _**

_**2 days for the leaders of Hezbollah in their bunkers, **_

_**3 days for the leaders of Israel in their halls of power.**_

_**Seven Days for the City of Kings**_

On the barge stood 25 empty crosses in a circle, 15 for the cabinet of Israel and 10 for the leaders of Hezbollah, in the middle of this macabre display stood five midnight blue armoured giants one of them bore no helm, and his armour was decorated with gold emblems, he was Legion Master Sahaal, and had been a trusted captain of Lord Primarch Curze, having grown up on Nostramo he was a pale man with the large dark adapted eyes of his kind, yet he was unusual in that he had always been able to stand the sunlight of the many imperial worlds.

And today he was preparing to bring the law of the Night Haunter, to a lawless part of Terra.

The images of the crucified soldiers and the reports of ominous messages sent shockwaves throughout the world, and in the great halls of politics in the New Earthdome in Brussels, the worlds leaders grew enraged at Horus and at the same times they wondered what else his associates where capable of, many of them asked if these messages were for real, the only answer the Astartes representatives gave on the matter were "you will see in seven days".

T-2 Day(s)

Five days had passed and as the gruesome messages given, had told the world the leaders of Hezbollah had on the second day been ripped out of their bunkers and crucified at high noon for the entire world to see it.

On the third day the entire IDF regiment guarding the Israeli Cabinet had been slaughtered, ripped apart by the Night Lords' Chainswords and Bolters, the regiment had included a tank division, that when dawn broke had been rendered inoperable by having the crews become afflicted with Acute lead poisoning sometime during the pre-dawn hours, at noon on the third day, the political masters of Israel found themselves crucified next to the dying leaders of Hezbollah.

As this was occurring the twenty newly minted Neophytes of the Word Bearers, were steadily moving towards the main plazas and religious sites of Jerusalem spreading a dread message of coming Flame.

T-1 Day(s)

While the word was born from the pages of the Epistles of Lorgar the Master Chaplain had called the media and told them to assemble at the Temple mount, he had sent messages to the leaders of the three main regional religions asking them to come and view his proclamation, as the time for the meeting drew near he donned his armor and robes, looked once at the dread visage of his skull like Battle-Mask before pulling it on, and grabbing his Crozius and a a handwritten copy of the Epistles of Lorgar

The book he attached to a gold chain on his belt, to the Crozius he attached an incense burner on a long silver chain and after lighting the incense he calmly ordered to be teleported.

Imam Muhammad Azziz was an old man, born in Gaza during the liberation years of the 2090's he had reached a venerable age in the service of Allah when Palestine had managed to procure much of the Sinai region and fully the southern half of Palestine up to the UN enforced border at Jerusalem. Since the coming of these Astartes he had taken a deep interest in them even going as far as meeting a man titled Master Chaplain, the title Chaplain was used by the followers of the Prophet Isa, but this man and these Astartes followed different faiths but all seemed to revolve around War and this Emperor of theirs, whom his new friend the Chaplain claimed to be a true flesh and blood God.

He was quickly roused from his ruminations as the very air on the dais before started to hum and sing before exploding in a flash of light and leaving a large armoured figure standing there.

Chaplain Devinian looked at the assembly and smirked softly behind his battle-mask.

He had their attention.

Touching one of the controls on his gauntlets caused a second flash, and a holo-projector to appear behind him, a second touch caused it to activate to a glorious orbital view above Palestine and Israel.

Devinian turned to the press and his esteemed colleagues, and started his speech.

"**_Seven days ago, The Leaders of the nation Israel and the leaders of the fighting force Hezbollah were given a warning by the Night Lords legion, a warning stating that any war on the north bank of the Nahr el Lîtâni or in the 10 km zone north of the river would result in the City of Kings becoming a City of Fire, we hoped that a stern warning and the regrettable acts at the battle of Geneva a decade ago would have been enough to make them listen to this warning, but yet again, no one listens, all over the world people are watching, waiting with bated breaths for the end of the seventh day, and it is come. _**

Quietly touching a third button he summoned his neophytes to him through preset teleport beacons, before the growing warpforged storm clouds completely jammed the teleports.

As his twenty neophytes blinked into existence behind him, and the darkening sky started to rumble he spoke again.

"_**I give The City of Kings this farewell, **_

_**The time is at hand, in preparation for today we have spoken to the clerics of this land, and all holy sites in the city are to be spared the coming fire. To end this meeting, I will speak the words of faith. **_

As these words had been spoken a great rumble was felt, and the earth shook and heaved under the black burning storm clouds. As the holoscreen shut down, the clerics calmly got up and retired into the Qubbat al-Sakrah (Dome of the Rock) for prayer together with the Neophytes, the press once told that they would be safe on the mountain began filming the city views nobody wanting to miss out on the coming end.

Devinian cleared his throat and uttered the final words.

"**_In the words of Primarch Lorgar, Ruler of Colchis. The Time is Come, The stars shall fall onto the earth and sweep away the unworthy. In Nomine Deus Imperator" _**

As the Chaplain finished he slammed the end of his staff once upon the great stones of the Temple mount and around the city the black skies were torn asunder as pillars of orange reddish light slammed into residential areas and industrial zones tearing them asunder and starting a great firestorm that would ravage the city and destroy everything but the holy places which during the preceding days had been outfitted with voidshield generators to protect them.

As the City of Kings burned, the press teams were filming it and sending out live, the world now truly understood what it meant to cross an edict set by "Death's Apprentices" and as the city was consumed, the bright shield domes around synagogues, churches and mosques began glowing easily battling the flames and protecting the people within.

During the following months, the Senate experienced enormous high and lows as it became clearer and clearer that the Jerusalem incident had done its job admirably, the world now existed in brittle harmony and many new trade agreements had been brokered, aswell the ranks of the Word Bearers had swelled by the hundreds as Palestinian boys by the thousands had volunteered for the service.

But the greatest change came late during the year 2160, as the majority of the Senate quietly and without much fanfare appointed Warmaster Horus, Dictator for Life.

The Imperium was Reborn.

**The Great Expansion M3.160**

With Earth under Imperium control, the Adeptus Mechanicus quickly turned their gaze to Mars. The eternal home of the Machine God in their home galaxy, the senior Magi were able to negotiate several treaties which gave them control of the planet, and offered employment to any who wished to stay. Surprisingly most of the Martian corporations elected to remain and work with the Mechanicus, knowing the results would likely fetch them a good profit. They were soon proven right.

Within the span of a year the great Temple of the Machine God was completed at Syria Planum, and work was begun on the manufactoria and orbital facilities. Many thousands of people displaced by the San Francisco disaster were allowed to immigrate to Mars, where they found jobs working in the factories, producing everything from weapons to prefabricated shelters to allow the construction of large domed cities to house the ever growing populace of Mars.

With the growth of the Martian population, large farming domes were constructed to produce food for the colony and would eventually be expanded to grow food for the trading ship being constructed in orbit, which would transport it to many worlds under the protection of the Empire, chief along them the worlds of the Drazi and Narn races. With settlements being constructed on many of the moons and outer planets of the Sol system, Mars quickly became the outer system's chief supply installation while Terra itself rebuilt and expanded its own industry.

When the Centauri Treaties were signed, Mars quickly expanded its industries, constructing numerous Quantium-40 refineries and manufactoria for lesser technologies to be traded with the Centauri. Several high security facilities were also built underground to analyze technology brought back by the Explorer fleets. The greatest discovery however, was already waiting for the Mechanicus beneath the surface of Mars.

…

**Mars: Power conduit 7A**

"Watch the plasma flow in drill two!" Tech Adept Masuko shouted over the incredible noise of the machines around him. The underground power relays had by now been completed over most of Mars, but with the Edgar Industries titan works due to come online in two months it had been decided that a secondary grid to built between the Machine Temple and the outlying manufactoria. It was hot, dangerous work, but if the Omnissiah willed it then Masuko would see it done.

"Adept!" One of the menials cried out from ahead, where the drilling teams were melting their way through a dense formation of granite. "Our auspex readings are picking up an organic mass ahead. The readings are different from any our surveyors detected from orbit."

"How far is it from our current position?" Masuko asked as he moved towards the front of the developing tunnel.

"Approximately thirty meters adept," the menial replied as he maintained his hunched position, not daring to glance up at the face of his lord.

"Very well; order the drill teams to reduce their beam intensity, I will contact the surface and request a biologis team."

"Yes Lord," the menial replied, his tattered cloths whipping about him as he ran forward, his goggles pulled protectively over his eyes.

…

Just over an hour after the detection of the biomass, the Mechanicus drill team powered down their plasma drills and menials moved in with hand implements to dig through the last meter or two of rock my hand. Gradually the tip of an obsidian black tendril was revealed. Strands of silver, seemingly meshed into the biomass, gave the material the appearance of web covered rock.

As more of the biomass was revealed one of the menials leaned in to bush the collected dust off of it, but the instant his hand touched the material he slumped forward. "Medic!" Came the cry from the foreman. An adept carrying a medical case rushed forward and ran a scanner over the fallen adept's body.

"Dead," the adept pronounced. "Cause unknown."

Suddenly a cold wave of air seemed to rush down the corridor, causing everyone, even the augment covered tech priests to involuntarily shiver. But that was nothing compared to the reactions taking place on the surface.

…

Astropath Varin was walking slowly down the still unfamiliar corridors of the Machine Temple on his way to the eyrie when a shrill wail lanced into his mind. It dashed through his mental defences, filling him with a cry of both sadness and overwhelming anger. "AWAKE! ALONE! AWAKE! ALONE!" The words repeated themselves several more times before mercifully ceasing and leaving Varin lying on the cold metal floor, a trickle of blood leaking from his ears and the empty sockets of his long dead eyes.

…

Fabricator General Talus entered caught his first glimpse of the alien vessel as the lift opened its doors at the fifth level of the research complex. Since its discovery five weeks before, the alien vessel had been mostly uncovered, and its strange, half-arachnid shape sent a shiver down the General's spine.

"Fabricator General," Techpriest Masuko greeted, making the symbol of the Machine God across his chest. "We have completed our tests on the material the ship is comprised of."

"What have you learned?" The Fabricator General inquired. As he gazed at the black ship, he briefly felt a cold wind rushing by him. "Is it alive?"

"In a sense yes; the ship is composed of some sort of energy absorbing material. It is somehow able to absorb any type of energy it encounters, including the electrical energy which allows our bodies to function."

"I see. Have you learned anything about how it was constructed or by whom?"

"I am afraid not. Primarch Magnus has dispatched one of his Librarians to attempt a psychic link with the vessel. Hopefully that should provide us with more information."

"Very well. For now continue your analysis of the vessel."

"Yes Fabricator General," Masuko replied, bowing as his master exited. Turning back to the black vessel he patiently watched as plasma cutters sliced the end off of one of the vessel's protruding spines. A viscous black liquid dripped from the severed end and a menial collected a small amount in a steel jar. "May the Omnissiah watch over us," he whispered as the cold phantom wind brushed by him again.

Librarian Iglantus took the hand the Fabricator General held out for him, pleased at the strength of the man's augmetic grip. "Fabricator General, I am Librarian Ignaltus."

"Thank you coming Librarian. As you likely know, one of our excavator teams uncovered an alien vessel beneath the surface. Further testing has shown it to be organic, and when one of our menials was killed by touching it several of our astropaths reported hearing words coming from underground," Talus explained.

"You believe the ship to be sentient?" The Librarian asked.

"That is why I asked you here. You are much stronger than any of our psykers here. We hope you will be able to determine if the vessel is indeed alive," the Fabricator General explained.

"Very well. I will need to be close to the ship."

"Follow me." The Fabricator General led Ignaltus into the sterile containment chamber. The black ship loomed over them, its spines giving it the appearance of a predatory spider.

Ignaltus could feel the ship's power in the room. His mind read it as a chilling wind. The ship was definitely alive. Now he would see if it truly was awake. Slowly walking forward, he stopped a meter from the vessel. Reaching out with his mind, Ignaltus felt inside the vessel. Almost immediately something pushed back and Ignaltus was assaulted by a barrage of images and emotions. He saw purple beams sliced to pieces, felt the pain of impacts to his skin, the joy of the hunt and the sorrow for lost companions.

With a concentrated effort Ignaltus pulled him mind back, feeling the soul of the ship, empty and reaching, follow him. Grasping his force staff, he struck the ship directly at its center, sending a tendril of warp lightning flashing up its mass. A piercing scream, heard in both ear and mind, filled the room, causing Ignaltus to take a step back. The entire ship rose a meter into the air before dropping back to the floor with a crash.

"Librarian, are you all right!" Talus asked as he and thirty tech guard hurried into the room.

"I am fine. The ship is indeed alive, but it does not posses a true soul. I sensed emptiness within it. I believe it requires the soul of another to operate and act as its core. Fabricator General, I sensed the ship had many companions. One is close, the others spread across known space."

"Are they a threat to us?" Talus asked, suddenly feeling a strong chill up his augmetic spine.

"I believe so. Their power is great, but ours is likely much greater. Perhaps if we can find more of these ships we can discover their origin and how to destroy them."

"I will speak to Primarch Magnus of this. Good day Fabricator General."

"Good day Librarian," Talus replied. Once the Librarian had departed he called over tech priest Masuko. "Order two of our scout ships to begin detailed surveys of every stellar body in the system. If there is another of these black ships near I want it found."

"I will see to it at once Fabricator General," Masuko replied.

"May the Machine God protect us all," Talus said to himself as his thoughts turned to dark places.

After several months of testing, the Mechanicus had learned enough from the black ship, and it was towed into orbit and destroyed. The ships dispatched by Masuko soon located a second black ship on the moon of Ganymede, where it was destroyed by orbital lance fire. Explorer fleets were given the objective of locating and destroying as many Shadow vessels as they could.

Several years after the destruction of the black ships, Mars was almost completely covered by mechanical constructs. Orbital yards and defensive installations surrounded the planet with concentric rings of firepower, making it utterly impenetrable. Mars also became home to a growing cybernetics movement. Many people, especially those in the military, had been awed by the power of the Mechanicus Tech Guard. Though many opposed the creation of cyborgs, a compromise was eventually reached. The process was of course voluntary, and any who wished to have their implants removed would be allowed to do so and have cloned organs implanted. These cloned organs also laid the foundation for accelerated growth of space marine zygotes, allowing for the new legions, The Word Bearers, the Night Lords and the Blood Angels, to build up their numbers far quicker than previously thought.

Though there were issues with the Blood Angel geneseed which required the genetors to graft segments of Horus' DNA onto since he was the closest match to the original geneseed template, this alteration led to a standard mutation occurring in all implanted Blood Angel zygotes, all initiates upon reaching their 15th year as an Astartes were overcome with visions of Primarch Sanguinus, and during the weeks following the visions, Angel like wings sprouted from their shoulders. Though small at first, they grew into mighty pinions able to carry the marines into the air within a year.

As the Terran Empire continued to expand, Mars sent detachments of men and machines to begin the construction of the first Forge Worlds in this new galaxy. As the population of Mars began to decrease, immigrants from several colonies began coming to Mars to learn from the tech priests, and soon the first Mechanicus University was established to train the next generation of the Cult Mechanics. Many of the new arrivals found life on Mars to be harsh but rewarding. With the constantly advancing technology, several new fields were established and took their place among the Mechanicus, among them the Bio-technology division, the Hyperspace Study Council and the First Ones Mysteria, dedicated to unlocking the histories and power of the mythical and ancient races of the galaxy. Many of these students joined the explorer fleets in excavating alien worlds and succeeded in bringing back many fascinating artefacts to Mars to study.

Proxima was the first. The nearest world to Earth with a breathable atmosphere despite its outwardly harsh appearance. The surveyors and augers logged it of a place of interest and slated it for immediate colonization. Within a week a vast colony ship had arrived crammed with eager settlers and a small army or servitors and construction bots to set up living space. As the surface of the world began to be shaped by humanity for humanity, so to did the space above the world change. The tranquillity of space was interrupted by heavily armed platforms and a pair of immense stations springing up over night. Within a few months Proxima was impenetrable to any known race, within a few years it was home to ten million people and climbing and a bastion of the new Terran Empire.

Humanity began acting in the galaxy, and in turn the galaxy took notice of this race, both new yet old at the same time.

The Centauri Royal court was filled with apprehension and the Centaurum burned with debate for a fortnight as the real power of these humans became more and more apparent. Fingers were pointed and blame laid, how had they avoided the exploration fleets? Why had they not being encountered earlier? What would happen if they turned into a hostile power and threatened the Lion of the Galaxy?  
The conclusion was quite simple. In open war the Centauri Navy would last a couple of days at best, the Centauri army even less time. In a rare moment of crystal clarity the Centauri recognized that they were no longer the biggest child in this playground and if they wanted to remain competitive they had to side with the Terrans, before their enemies did the same thing.

The Emperor sent leaders from House Jaddo and House Mollari to the human homeworld to negotiate a peaceful treaty of friendship and trade with the Terran Empire. They were directed to Proxima colony, with the location of Sol being a highly guarded secret, and the arrival was as sombre as it was spectacular, the Centauri shuttle passing by the Terran battlefleet close enough to get a real sense of their size and power. If it was built to intimidate as well as destroy then it had the desired affect on the Centauri. For a long time the Minbari had been the cautionary tale, now it was looking like the humans would be the reason given whenever caution was needed among the people of Centauri Prime.  
They were met at the landing site by recognizably human soldiers who politely escorted them to the local governmental centre itself. Here they found something a little more disturbing in the form of two giant red clad warriors flanking the door. They largely ignored the Centauri and carried simple looking but huge guns held across their chest. A troubling and formidable sight that justified the Emperors wisdom in approaching Earth in peace.

For their part the humans were very open and approachable, happily signing treaties with the Centauri for trade, offering large amounts of Quantium 40 taken from Proxima.  
"We have little need for it." An imposing yet charming super human being had said with a smile. "We only use it for weapons experiments, we can offer you this element fully refined at a very reasonable price."  
"What do you wish in return?" Mollari had asked.  
"Above all else, information." The man replied. "You have been in this galaxy a long time, explored many places. We want to know what you know so we may understand this place better, and our role in it."  
The terms were a pleasant surprise, one the Centauri entered into eagerly. The Empire learned the location and disposition of every alien race in the sector while the Centauri Republic acquired cheap Quantium 40 and a selection of lesser technologies the Terrans deemed to be mostly harmless.

With the new information Terra expanded into unclaimed space and settled colonies at Deneb, Orion and Altair among others, two dozen worlds populated and fortified in surprisingly quick time. The Terrans pulled in resources in vast quantities; mighty orbital yards and facilities sprung up across the growing Empire and began creating a new generation of battleships to serve Earth. Immensely powerful and armed with the best both sides of humanity could manage, mostly Imperium technology but with certain computer, control and most notable interceptor batteries deployed and developed by the old Earth Alliance.  
The Empire moved into the League worlds quietly and peacefully, forming bonds of friendship and trade that took most by surprise, and while those huge Earth ships were constantly on the minds of the League powers the fact they came as friends not conquerors gave them immense relief.

With humanity's star rapidly on the ascendant in the galaxy, Mars became a shining beacon in space, constantly advancing the technology of the Empire as well as the quality of life for all of Mankind's allies.

One distant world was Omelos, home to a race known as the Dilgar. Unceasing war had made their world almost a wasteland with many areas uninhabitable from Radiation poisoning and resources running out. They were a closed people who had little interest in anything more than basic contact, fearful of the power wielded by the Terrans.  
As a gesture the Terran Empire sent a team to clean up the Radiation affecting large portions of Omelos, and while the population almost attacked the teams their escorts made them think twice. The silent warriors of the Adeptus Astartes aided by a troop of Baneblades made a tremendous show of power; the first glimpse most of the League had of Earths ground based might.  
When the results came through the Dilgar had to admit the Terrans had been right and over years Omelos became habitable again, while economic aide went a long way towards fixing the Dilgar economy and making the world competitive with the League again. While the Dilgar remained distrustful of their League neighbours, they recognised the strength of humanity and maintained open relations with the worthy warrior race. A main event which caused the Dilgar to trust the Terrans happened in the Rohric system, the home of a mighty pirate leader who had cut a bloody swathe into Dilgar Trade.

**Rohric System M3.170**

Combat Leader Re'las dropped down behind the packing crate as blue and red energy bolts slammed into it with a hiss. He checked the hollowed out corridor around him for alternate cover but found nothing. The specialist beside opened up with a burst of automatic fire to keep the enemy back but it was only prolonging the inevitable.  
The fledgling Dilgar navy had a lot of trouble with Pirates striking its shipping lines, and while when they were caught the Dilgar Navy made short work of the opportunists they had too few ships to cover every merchant convoy on every route. It was therefore quite a coup to find an asteroid based used by pirates in Dilgar space and an assault was immediately deployed.  
Unfortunately the Raiders had proven more numerous than expected, with the Dilgar frigate conducting the operation crippled and Re'las' strike team on the base now cut off and surrounded. And it had started as such a good day as well.

"I'm on my last clip sir."  
"Me too, Specialist." Re'las admitted. "Fix bayonets."  
The Dilgar were one of the few races who still appreciated the application of some cold steel in close quarters combat. However against a numerous and dug in enemy it wasn't going to do much. They fired the last of their ammunition, bringing down a Drazi and a Narn Pirate but doing little to lessen the overall strength of the enemy.  
"We die well." Re'las nodded. "As fits a Dilgar warrior."  
He crouched on his haunches and readied to jump up. "For the Imperium!" he yelled.  
As he did so he was surprised and blinded by a flash of light, regaining his vision just in time to avoid running into a small mountain of a being.  
"For the Imperium." The new figure repeated.

"I'm getting sick of this." T'skat snarled, the burly Narn staring accusingly at his subordinates. "I built this cartel from nothing, we messed up the Dilgar and the League, and thanks to me we made some cash."  
"Look boss, we lost contact with the fire teams, probably just equipment failure."  
"Don't be a moron! Grab a gun and come with me, all of you!"  
"Yes boss." His Cartel heads reluctantly agreed before departing to see what was happening.

Re'las was so taken aback he didn't notice nobody was shooting anymore. Four immense figures in midnight blue and silver armour were just stood in the corridor facing the pirate positions, one of them with somewhat more ornate armour looked to the Combat officer.  
"Dilgar soldier?"  
Re'las nodded.  
"The Terran Empire sends its compliments. I am Captain Thanos, Night Lords Legion. We have been sent to assist you in this mission against injustice."  
"Okay." Re'las nodded; impressed they could speak his language. They probably had translators. "Thanks."  
"You are welcome." Thanos turned to his associates. "Brother Astartes, seek and destroy."  
The three other warriors moved in unison filling the corridor and advancing steadily on the embedded Pirates. Expectedly they opened fire with every weapon they had.

The Astartes' Aquila armour took the punishment, absorbing energy bolts and stopping metal rounds without complaint. In return the Night Lord warriors unleashed a piercing battle cry and flung themselves forward, energy blasts haloing their figures as they swung the most vicious weapons Re'las had yet seen down on the foes, oversized sword like chainsaws.  
The far end of the corridor exploded in sticky red liquid as the churning blades eviscerated the luckless pirates, the three Marines glorying in a job well done as unrecognisable pieces of their alien quarry slid down to the slick floor.  
They stepped over the mangled line and continued on deeper into the base, the echo of gunfire and screams marking their progress.

T'skat also heard the sudden increase in gunfire and panic.  
"Team six, what is it?" he asked on a commlink.  
"Boss? Boss!"  
"Calm the hell down and report."  
"We can't kill them! I don't know what they are! Why can't we kill it!"  
"Look, make sense or I'll throw you outside!" T'skat grunted. "More Dilgar?"  
He was answered by a scream and a crunch, and then the link went dead.  
Every one of his cadre looked at him with distinct unease.  
"Maybe we should leave." T'skat suggested.  
As he did all the lights went out.  
"Yeah, time to go."

The group broke out a couple of personal lights and began snaking through the corridors, dark oppressive and now remarkably cold. T'skat could see their breath misting as it left their lips. Every little sound drew them nearer panic, swinging their rifles and sometimes even shooting at nothing.  
"Hold your fire!" the leader hissed. "You'll draw them here!"  
"They've already been." The pointman winced. "Look."  
Across their path in the corridor were a pile of bodies in various mangled states, the floor around mixed with various alien blood types.  
"Team six." T'skat recognized the clothes of one less mangled individual. "Looks like they went through a mincer."  
"Where's Alon?" one of the cartel suddenly noticed. "He was here a second ago."  
T'skat snapped back, weapon primed. "Leave him, we go, now!"  
"But.."  
"Now, or stay here and die like them!"

They set off at a brisker pace, the lights in front bobbing as they broke into a jog and then finally a sprint, the cold night around them feeling like icy fingers grabbing for them. One of them fell and was left behind, no one stopped for him. A few seconds later they heard screams.  
"behind us!" T'skat yelled. "Shoot!"  
The cartel fired at nothing, energy pulses shooting into the empty corridor behind them. As they did the two men at the front with lights suddenly vanished, taking the only stable light with them.  
"In front!" One of them yelled, swinging his rifle wildly and cutting down one of his own comrades..  
The group fell apart, some running, some cowering. T'skat and two other Narns held firm firing in both directions stood back to back, their only view flashes of illumination as their weapons discharged. He could see fleeting shapes, shadows within shadows huge and silent getting closer.  
The fire behind him stopped, the pirates watching that side just gone without time to even wail. As he turned his head back he saw the last of his cartel yanked through the air by a great clawed hand and disappear into the gloom. In a heartbeat he found himself alone, surrounded in utter dark with an absolutely petrifying feeling of dread overcoming him.  
"What the hell are you!"  
"Not what." A whisper came from nowhere, apparently talking his language. "Who."  
A light blinked on revealing a dark and huge armoured soldier.  
"Who…" T'skat managed.  
"We are the night." The warrior displayed a hellish weapon, a sword with no true blade but many curved bloodstained teeth. "We come from the cold and dark, and we leave only cold and dark."  
T'skats Pirate Empire ended as it had begun in screams of death and blood.

"My Masters in the Empire have taken an interest in this area." Thanos spoke conversationally. "Shall we walk to the main hangar?"  
Re'las and his subordinate agreed and joined the Astartes Captain.  
"I heard reports of your people." Re'las said. "They were true."  
"And we know of yours. You show potential." Thanos stated. "My Masters are willing to assist your world in its rebuilding and in securing its territory."  
"And as part of this aid we will crush the pirate problem in your territory." Taos stated.  
They arrived in the hangar to be met with more dark armoured soldiers and a number of other Dilgar troops.  
"Captain, we have recovered all surviving Dilgar warriors."  
"Good Sergeant." Thanos nodded. "We will depart here. Prepare to teleport."  
Re'las frowned. "What do you mean by…."

His speech was cut short as he lost his senses for a moment of bright light, then recovered enough to see he was in a massive ornate room with a vast window looking onto the Asteroid base.  
"Welcome aboard my cruiser, the Shadowed Blade." Thanos said beside them. "We have taken your ship aboard and will be leaving for Omelos shortly."  
The Dilgar Frigate was over three hundred meters long; he couldn't imagine how big this ship would have to be to take it into a cargo hold. And this wasn't even a battleship.  
"But first I thought you would like to witness the removal of the Pirate threat." He nodded to a crew member who relayed his orders. A few moments later the ships decks hummed. From the windows Re'las watched as 3 bright lances of energy swept out from the ship and gently touched the base, blasting both it and several cubic miles of asteroid into fragments.

"Both our missions are now complete." Thanos stated.  
"Very much so." The Dilgar officer agreed, still catching up mentally with the experience.  
"We hope this is the beginning of a beneficial union built on respect." Thanos stated. "We are not conquerors of your people, though you see our might and know we have the power to do so if we wished. We extend our hand to you, and it would please my Masters if you accepted it in friendship."  
"I expect we will." Re'las said. "After this I see no one turning down such a powerful ally."  
"Good." Thanos nodded. "In Terra's name, this is how it shall be."

**War and Peace, oh right can't forget...Order too**.

Only one race acted aggressively to Earth, the Ch'lonas who engaged an Earth explorer unit and destroyed it. Thinking the small ship was the limit of human technology their fleet crossed humanities border and attempted to take the Delta system. An attempt which lasted eight seconds in the face of the planetary defences.  
Terra lashed out and annihilated their navy and planetary defences, the homeworld was found and it was reduced to a cinder by an hour long bombardment, a message to the galaxy that humanity had the power to do this to any world, and that this would be the price of war.

The Mars facilities soon began construction of defensive installations to be placed on other worlds. The first Ramilies class Starfort was completed within two years and was stationed it geosynchronous orbit over Europe. After three more Ramilies were placed throughout the Sol System, others, along with the smaller Babylon class orbital forts, were shipped to other Terran systems. It was these stations which annihilated the Ch'lonas fleet when it invaded the Delta system.

Terra began expanding outward into totally unexplored space towards the galactic rim.

Terran transports became the freighter of choice for business, and human shipping companies became vastly wealthy overnight. The armed freighters were impervious to raider attack and dwarfed the space stations they delivered to, allowing vast quantities of material to be shipped relatively cheaply. Slowly but surely all of Earths trading partners began to see prosperity rise as Trade between worlds increased thanks to humanity. Earth itself was growing richer and richer by the hour, all the wealth and resources being funnelled back into the ship yards.

All of this did not go unnoticed. From the edges of known space eyes watched the new Empire with curiosity and some apprehension. For the Anla'shok it was a religious duty, the possible fulfilment of prophecy. For other creatures it was something far more monumental. Races that most considered no more than legend and tall tales watched the new giant arise, some analysing how they fitted into the great plan of the universe, others revelling in the huge upset they could cause to the balance of time and the universe.  
"They should not be here." Ulkesh intoned. "They cause disruption, they break our circle."  
"No." Kosh replied calmly. "They are the circle, it is our understanding that must change."  
"Humanity is our weapon against the dark ones."  
"They serve the universe, as we serve the universe." Kosh remained calm. "Our purpose is to show the way."  
"Our purpose is to defeat the darkness however we can."  
"No." The other Vorlon said simply.  
"We will not change our ways for them."  
"We must change, or we will be defeated."  
"Evolve or be destroyed?" Ulkesh sounded harsh. "You speak like a dark one."  
Kosh flared in anger, his brightness increasing momentarily as his ire rose. "Do not challenge me!"  
"Do not stray from the path." Was Ulkesh's reply. "You will watch them, and try to see if the circle is broken."  
"It is never broken." Kosh said. "Only changed."  
"It will serve our needs." The militant Vorlon said. "Or we will break it ourselves."

The Terran Empire slowly established itself as the great power of the known galaxy, a slumbering Leviathan happy to exert influence through trade and industry rather than the steel arm of the army and navy. Most of the galaxy became dependant on Earth ships for trade, and on trade for their economic prosperity. The small seemingly unimportant home of humanity had become the centre of the universe quietly taking the title from Centauri Prime and acting as insurer, bank and peacemaker for the worlds and races around it.  
The arrival of Earth in the galaxy was marked with a new prosperity and a period of peace as each government grew more satisfied with its trade and friendship with Earth which strictly forbade war between trading partners. It was a new time, and those who shared in it rejoiced, though not all was well.

**Terra. M3.175**

The universe had become near to fully dependant on the Astra Aquila class freighters, Horus had conquered the better part of known space without ever firing a shot in true war, but today all the plans Horus had, went awry, there could be no annexing of the league until they could figure out if this evidence meant friend or foe.

Horus gently picked up the near translucent fabric and watched it shimmer and adapt to the colours of its surroundings. There was only one thing on Horus' mind…..Where in all the Chaos-spawned Hells had the Vree gotten a Cameleoline Cloak.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: A Vacation in Alpha Centauri.

M3.175

In a small trinary star system on the doorstep of the Terran Imperium.

The solution to the mysteries plaguing Horus could be found a mere 4.4 light years from Terra herself, in a system blocked from jumpspace by a raging hyperspace storm caused by the tremendous tidal forces exerted by its three suns. Within that storm however, lay an ancient legacy.

It was a world beyond any other; it was a place where even a Vorlon couldn't walk without feeling awed by the presence of the world, for indeed none of the local races had ever seen a world like this one. It was a world wrought by eldritch flame and the power of the Immaterium, with massive spires and towers rising many kilometers into the starry sky.

It was a sight that many would kill to see, many stories around the galaxy told of the Ghost World beyond the great jumpspace storms. However it was no ghost world, it was a world teeming with life, life that did not belong in this universe. The people of this world were members of the greatest and most terrible race ever to exist; they were Eldar.

M-1.150

During the fall of the Eldar Empire and the birth of the Great Devourer, many great Craftworlds had been built and while many had fled into the Webway, some had been unable to make it that far. One of those had been the home of the Dark Reapers Aspect Shrine, the great Craftworld of Altansar. Only one of its Eldar had escaped the warp rift, and he had been the leader of the Dark Reaper shrine. Maugan Ra was lost to them, but instead of the death sentence slowly lived out in the Great Devourers warp rift, Altansar found itself in this place, a place beyond the webway, yet it was a place where the galactic maps stated 6 known webway gates. It was very near the homeworld of the Mon-keigh, but that was where everything went awry. The stars where not the same, the warp was not the same. At first there was great jubilation for the Great Devourer was gone, however there was also great pain, for the Eldar of Altansar were alone in the great void of stars.

It was not long before the ancient race arrived at their new home that they realized they could not leave, for without the Webway Altansar had no way to travel the stars. Claiming the three habitable worlds in the system, the Eldar prepared to begin their existence anew in this place until they could return home.

The Bonesingers of the craftworld slowly began growing settlements on the surface, the Wraithbone structures slowly growing over the years into towering spires of white and silver. Farming centers were constructed and, as the decades slowly passed, the Altansar Eldar forged a new home out of this wilderness.

_**The Council of Seers: Craftworld Altansar: Orbiting Arraxia**_

Farseer Tyrian stood in the centre of the circle of seers, observing with the Seers of Altansar as the cast runes circled and watched as many fell, though most continued to glow and revolve in a great eldritch dance. At Tyrian's command the runes stilled, notably missing from the glowing circle were the runes denoting the Eldar gods and the dark gods of chaos, all of those lay dormant on the floor of the chamber. More and more runes started becoming dormant as the future-past coalesced into the most important alternatives. Five runes danced in the centre of the circle, the rune denoting Altansar danced vibrant and brilliant, revealing to the assembled Seers that each future-past was intrinsically connected to the Craftworld and its Eldar. Also shining in the circle was the rune denoting the Mon-Keigh, indicating that they would play a part in the coming future. Two stones representing darkness and evil flowed to the polar opposites of the formation. Finally, the rune of war, its aura glowing a bit dimmer than the others, drifted into the center of the pattern. As soon as the formation was complete the stones sank to the floor where they lay still.

"The runes have spoken," Tyrian intoned as he gathered the thin Wraithbone stones and reverently placed them in a small sack around his waist. "We must address the Court."

"I shall accompany you," Warlock Sharaisal replied, her purple robe flowing lightly around her slender limbs.

"Very well," Tyrian replied, and as the council dispersed the two Seers entered one of the myrid Webway portals scattered around Altansar. They sped along its length in what seemed like the blink of an eye, emerging into a large chamber in which sat the Exarchs of the Court of the Young King. At once all attention was focused on the two Seers, who bowed to the assembled Exarchs.

"Farseer Tyrian, what has your vision shown you?" The Young King asked as he switched his Wraithsword to his left hand and rested its tip on the floor.

"The stones have shown that conflict lies ahead my Lord," Tyrian replied as his hand instinctively sought the bag of stones at his hip. "They reveal that we shall one day be engaged in a great war with a darkness who seeks our destruction. The final stone is troublesome, for it shows that the Mon-Keigh shall play a vital part in the coming war, though not even the stones reveal who or why."

"The Mon-Keigh are nothing more than primitive animals," Exarch Kalack of the Dark Reapers, the main aspect temple on Altansar, replied. "Their power is as nothing compared to ours."

"We must know more," Exarch Elrities of the Warp Spiders remarked. "This darkness could be a mistake let loose by the Mon-Keigh. We have seen the consequences of their arrogance before. When their soulless imitations of the Yngir armies nearly destroyed them they learned their first lesson, but it shall be far from their last."

"Until we can complete construction of new Webway paths our people are isolated in this place," the Young King spoke, rising to his feet and stamping the point of his blade into the floor with a sharp ping. "Farseer Tyrian, I would ask you to consult the stones again regarding this darkness and it's involvement with the Mon-Keigh. We know this place is isolated from outsiders, but we must be ready. We are safe from the clutches of our great enemy, and for that we are all thankful. If we are unable to return to our homes, we shall endeavour to preserve our race here and forge a new Eldar Empire out of the ashes of the old. And for that, we shall require above all other things knowledge."

"I shall endeavour to do as you ask my Lord," Tyrian replied. "If I may ask, what shall we do if, when we complete a new Webway network, encounter the Mon-Keigh or other races?"

"We shall crush them of course," came a low voice from the shadows at the edge of the chamber. From the darkness emerged a lithe figure clad in nearly translucent crimson armour accentuated with patterns of warlock purple. A flowing black cape billowed in her wake. "It is the destiny of the Eldar to rule the stars with our power and wisdom. Now that the Great Enemy is no longer a threat to us here we have a chance to reclaim what we once had," Autarch Melishar of Altansar spoke. All members of the Court turned and bowed to the military commander of Altansar.

"I agree Autarch," the Young King replied. "However we must wait until we can rebuild the Webway, which in itself may take many centuries, and then we must ensure our armies and fleets are strong and swift enough to do what we propose. I swear my eyes and soul to this task."

One by one the Exarchs and Seers took a knee before the Autarch. Her eyes, bright yet seemingly filled with endless sadness, closed for a moment. When they opened again she hefted her shining blade into the air, its Wraithbone material sharp down to an atom. "On this blade shall the Eldar race begin anew. We shall gather our strength with the patience and wisdom which is out legacy, and when the time comes our hand will stretch forth and this galaxy will fear and revere our name!"

"In the name of the Eldar!" The Court echoed as each present bowed their head in prayer to the Eldar Gods, now lost, that their children would claim the galaxy in their name, and woe bestride any who stood in their path.

As the magnificent spires of wraithbone rose on the planet is the massive orbiting form of the Craftworld, researchers where rediscovering things unused since the Fall.

Keleth smiled as the fusion cutter cut through the last of the debris blocking access to what her scanner read as a vast cavern space beyond. During Atlansar's chaotic journey to this place many sections had taken heavy damage, and the section Keleth's crew was repairing had been neglected since their arrival. Yet nothing could prepare the Eldar for what awaited them within.

"What is this place?" Fithriel asked as his gaze passed over the series of vast Wraithbone pillars which extended beyond sight into the darkened ceiling.

"Some sort of generators I believe," Keleth replied as she made her way to the base of the closest pillar, the temperature dropping slightly near the base. Running a slender finger over the runes inscribed over the polished white material she furrowed her brow. "The Veil of Vaul?" She asked. "Perhaps the Farseer will know more," she surmised. Tyrian had been on the Craftworld longer than most others, having supervised its construction shortly before the birth of the Great Enemy.

…

"I did not believe it had survived," Farseer Tyrian remarked as he beheld the Wraithbone pillars.

"What are they?" Keleth asked as she came up behind the Farseer. Several Bonesingers were repairing the damage around them. Ever so slowly new Wraithbone was glowing over the old blackened material damaged when the Craftworld had been plunged into the Sea of Souls.

"A relic from before your time," Tyrian replied. "These pillars are in fact power sources for the Veil and Sails of Vaul, a protective barrier and engine with which our Craftworld enters and traverses in safety the Sea of Souls."

"The Sea of Souls!?" Keleth cried. "Why in the names of the gods would our Craftworld have such a device?!"

"I foresaw that when our empire fell the Webway would suffer, and our ancestors used this method of travel before the Webway was constructed. Now that we are in a place without our Webway this may be our only way to travel beyond this star. As I have been unable to sense any dark creatures beyond the veils of reality I believe it is worth the risk, but only after we have repaired this place and are sure of our success."

The Craftworld herself had engines capable of entering and traversing the Immaterium, though unused the engines proved to work flawlessly in a test as the massive vessel jumped between the planet and the Oort cloud.

As the bonesingers and mariners studied the massive construct and how best to make it smaller so as to fit on the myriad of Wraithships and Eclipse cruisers used by the Craftworld, however the easiest ships for which to adapt the Veil technology where the massive Void Stalkers, battleships of immense size and power, they were excepting the Craftworld herself the pinnacle of Eldar warship technology, then of course came the escort vessels who couldn't mount the technology these where instead deployed on the Craftworld and on the growing number of fixed defence fortresses.

There was speculation for a time if they should perhaps use the craft world as a base or a fleetyard however that idea was quickly nipped in its bud for the simple reason that many thought the Craftworld a perfect deterrence for any new "neighbour" who might make war in the future. So it was that Altansar was converted over many years into the greatest of warships.

As the Eldar looked out on the stars, and for the first time expectations where running high, many wondered what this galaxy was like, and others looked upon Sea of Souls plotting paths where the massed flows told of stars, and for the first time in aeons, the Eldar travelled the Sea of Souls and the Great Void, simply for the pleasure to explore and discover the new stars.

Though they met a few races many were new to the stars and other had reached their ends, they watched as the new races scavenged from the corpses of the old.

M-1.250

It was after nearly 80 cycles of Arraxia around the twin stars, that the Eldar became aware of the battling empires, many of the new called them light and darkness others called them shadows and light, and one of the races who was not new and not old named the two Empires, Vorlonn and Zha'do, and the race named themselves Guardians of the Unlost, but the other races named them Soulhunters.

The Eldar, concerned at the rumours of great destruction and the possibility of attack on their haven, sent ships out to investigate and obtain reliable intelligence. Seven ships were sent, and after three weeks of darting in and out of the Immaterium, they returned. The news they brought was grim, and the Court of the Young King quickly convened to decide on a course of action.

…

Shipmaster Alshreth stepped back as the holographic matrix set into the floor of the Young King's court activated, displaying the latest recordings made by the cruiser _Blood of Khaine. _A shining blue world was burning in the air, as phantom ships danced around the atmosphere. Some resembled golden sea creatures, with tencacled weapons which shot bolts of light.

"These are the vessels belonging to the race we have come to know as Vorlonns," Alshreth explained. "They are crewed by powerful psykers. The Seers aboard my vessel were barely able to hide our presence. However we did learn that despite their seemingly benign nature, which we believe they imprint the illusion of on others, is false. Observe the far left segment of the image."

Within the projection a massive jump point opened, allowing a vessel which dwarfed the others utterly to gain entry in real space. A cluster of massive tentacles growing from the front center began glowing the same as its smaller brethren, but becoming impossibly bright. After several minutes in which the remaining brown ships of the world under siege were finished off, the massive Vorlonn vessel released a blinding beam of golden light down into the world below. Huge volcanoes began erupting, spewing molten rock hundreds of kilometers into space. Entire continents sank into seas which were soon flashed into steam.

Gradually the planet broke apart, first splitting into continents sized chunks but eventually all which remained was a rapidly expanding asteroid field. The Vorlonn ships entered Hyperspace and felt, their task complete.

"These Vorlonns destroyed an entire world," the Autarch stated in a very quite voice. "What was the reason? Even we rarely employ such measures."

"The reason in much simpler than I first believed Autarch," Alshreth replied, keeping his eyes on the floor and fighting the urge to simply stare at Altansar's greatest champion. Such was her commanding presence that her all before her were brought to awe. He continued, aware of the ever so slight tilt of the Autarch's head encouraging him. "The world was an ally of the second race in this war. The Soulhunters refer to them as Zha'do, but they are known to the other races only as the 'Shadows,'" he continued as the image shifted, now showing a dry desert world with a single moon. Black ships streaked back and forth across the sky. They resembled arachnids with their many questing arms, and as they passed closer to where the _Blood of Khaine _had hidden in the trail of a comet, a great scream was heard. It resonated within the Court chamber, sending a wave of ice across the minds of the assembled Eldar.

"An attack?" Exarch Yelidear of the Warp Spiders asked, having heard similar cries during his jumps through the Sea of Souls before Altansar had come to its new home.

"We don't believe so Exarch. The scream appears to by a by-product of the ship's pilot. From the limited readings we were able to take we learned that Zha'do vessels use their servants as control centers. The scream in their minds is agony."

"Barbaric! Not even the Mon-Keigh resort to such measures!" Exarch Fleriath of the Fire Dragons spat in anger, her Firepike hissing softly as it sensed her desire to unleash it's deadly energies.

"These Zha'do, these 'Shadows' have no regard for the purity of life," Autarch Melishar. "But my visions have shown me that these Vorlonns are perhaps even greater in their disregard. The Zha'do may reduce worlds to dust, but the Vorlonns appear to do it with abandon. She Shadows, from what I have learned and what out scouts have brought to my attention, indicates these races war not for territory or resources, but for ideals."

"Ideals?" Yelidear asked. "What ideals do they fight for?"

"The ideal of evolution. Our contacts in the Soul Hunters have told that the Zha'do believe evolution comes through chaos and war, while the Vorlonns believe order and obedience are the true path. Each race is converting younger peoples to their cause, and destroying any who refuse them. Eventually their war may even reach our haven here. We cannot allow this to come to pass."

"What do you suggest we do Autarch?" The Young King asked as he watched the recording repeat itself and the world fracture into shards of rock and cooling magma.

"We shall take this war to them!" The Autarch replied, stepping inside the projection, causing in to cease. "If we allow these races to continue growing in power, they shall become to strong for even us to stop."

"Impossible," Exarch Kalindieal of the Howling Banshee temple replied, her voice rising in pitch until the Eldar present winced as their ears were assaulted. "No race can match us in battle."

"Farseer Tyrian has shown be different. I have instructed to keep one of his visions from this council, until now. Farseer, step forward."

"Autarch," the Farseer intoned, taking a knee before the Autarch. "I am prepared." With a nod from Melishar he opened his mind to the council, feeling their mental gazes of his soul. Closing his eyes he allowed the vision he had hidden to rise to the surface. Altansar came into focus, her space fleet darting around her. Surrounding the mighty Craftworld were tens of thousands of Vorlonn and Zha'do vessels, firing into the lightning fast Eldar warships. Many were burning or dead in space. Altansar herself was firing volley after volley into the enemy fleets, but new ships were constantly entering the field.

"How can we know this vision is accurate?" The Young King asked as he saw a mighty Void Stalker sheared in two by a dozen Zha'do and Vorlonn beams. Altansar was now loosing her fight, her mighty weapons being picked off one by one, though at great cost. Several of the massive Vorlonn planet killers were closing in on Altansar, one falling to a salvo of pulse lances and phantom torpedoes as it prepared to fire. The other three each targeted a section of the craftworld and fired. Wraithbone armour cracked and buckled, and fire engulfed the interior. After several minutes of firing Altansar exploded apart, showering the Eldar world below with chunks of Wraithbone and metal.

As the vision faded silence, both vocal and metal, set on the Court. The Autarch was the first to speak. "This will be the price if we allow these barbaric races to continue their pointless war. We Eldar, the sons and daughters of Asuryan, must take up the mantle of guardianship for this place just as we have done in the distant past."

"But Autarch," the Young King began, "from what you have shown us these races far outnumber us. How can we defeat them so easily?"

"By not defeating them," the Autarch replied. "There are many young races opposing the Vorlonns and Zha'do, but they lack the power to take them as they are. We shall focus our efforts on weakening the Vorlonns and Zha'do to the point that the races who oppose them can meet them in battle themselves."

"I support the Autarch's vote," Tyrian added. "We must stop this darkness before it reaches us here. I will personally take charge of one of our fleets and lead the first attack on this enemy. Our scouts have located several targets which would be vulnerable to an attack." The projection returned, this time displaying a map of the surrounding space. Seven systems were highlighted. "Four of these targets are Vorlonn, and the other three Zha'do. I will lead the attack on the nearest target, a Vorlonn ship facility. Our other attack fleets will attack the three Zha'do targets, if you approve Autarch."

"We shall attack one target from each race to gauge their worth in combat. Once that is achieved we will attack the other targets," Melishar replied. "We have spent the last centuries mapping the currents of the Sea of Souls, and as we have discovered our drives take us deeper than either of our enemies, they will be unable to track us. Young Kind, with your agreement strikes will commence at once."

"Of course Autarch," the Young King replied. "If Farseer Tryian's vision of the future is indeed true we must act."

"Very well then. The Eldar shall go to war."

…

Ular felt a great surge of energy through his energy matrix. He recognized it as pride. The Thirdspace Gate had nearly been the end of the Vorlon race, but now his people were winning the war against the Darkness. Their servants won new victories every day, and with the continued supply of ships from this facility the Dark Ones would soon be forced to begin a retreat from the forces of Order. "It is near," a voice came in his head.

"Yes," Kosh Nerenak replied with his mind. "The Dark Ones grow strong. We must be greater."

"The circle nears completion. Only one future is uncertain. The clouded star brightens," Ular warned. Kosh knew what he meant. A star system cut off from jump space. Not even the Dark Ones went there, for the risk was too great. However, recently powerful energies had been sensed there. Once the Dark Ones were on the retreat the Vorlons would investigate. They did not like the unknown, for lack of knowledge often led to disaster.

Suddenly proximity alert were sounded as the hyperspace sensors detected approaching ships, moving at speeds even the Dark Ones never reached. Turbulent vortexes of energy, much different than jump points, opened up to allow what appeared to be streaks of light through before vanishing. Immediately pulses of energy lances out, cutting the closest Vorlonn ships to ribbons and ending the lives of the crews within them.

"Who are they?!" Ulan demanded, entering the systems of the complex and taking control of the defences. Whoever these intruders were, they would pay for ending Vorlon lives.

…

Farseer Tyrian watched dispassionately as another Vorlonn ship fell to the _Lightning Spear's _guns. The mighty Void Stalker sliced through the void with a speed and grace which far eclipsed the Vorlonn ships attempting to bring it down. He could sense the minds on the other ships which made up Altansar's First Strike Fleet. "Order the Dark Reapers to commence firing on the Vorlonn facilities while the rest of the fleet brings down the defenders."

"As you command Farseer," Shipmaster Liara replied, her long silver hair floating around her as she focused on the incoming enemy fire. A woman of the stars since birth, Liara had long admired the Shining Spears aspect temple, and though she had been denied that role she still used their teachings in her command. "Shipmaster Darithane, you are free to commence attack. Shipmasters Yerliandra and Arithale, move to your advance positions."

In space the Eldar armada began separating like the pedals of an opening flower. Jet black cruisers launched volleys of half-visible torpedoes which flashed through defending fire to impact on the reinforced arms of the shipyards and the vulnerable vessels within them. Explosions soon dotted the space around the planet. Clouds of fighters rose to meet them, Cruisers and Star Dreadnaughts following and from orbit a Planet Killer slowly lumbered forward. But even as the Vorlonns moved to engage the attackers they revealed another of their weapons. An eldritch storm of lightning flared into existence around the first Star Dreadnaught, tearing into its armour with incredible power. Every Vorlonn in the entire system felt the death agonies of its crew as their souls were torn apart. The Vorlon ships, suddenly unsure as their masters halted their commands for a moment, heard yet more death cries as the Vorlons crewing other ships were killed in moments.

Despite the fearsome tally the attacking ships were taking, the Vorlonns were fighting back. Lightning Guns and heavy defence weapons boxed in the darting ships and began reaping a tally of their own. Elegant solar sails were punctured, Wraithbone hulls busted open and crews sucked out into space. The battle was not finished yet.

The _Lighting Spear _shuddered as a Vorlon Lighting Gun blasted a pit into the side of the elegant vessel. In reply a pair of Pulsar Lances blasted the attacking Vorlonn Cruiser in half, the blue drive fins loosing their lustre as the crew of the vessel's souls expired.

As he observed the attack, Tyrian suddenly felt a hammering blow against his mind. A second came right after, and a third. He felt the barrage of mental pulses, seemingly coming from everywhere at once, striking the other ships near the _Lightning Spear. _His mental shields buckled under the attack, but Tyrian had honed his abilities for millennia, and he beat back the assault, tearing one of the attacking minds to ribbons before the other two withdrew. "Farseer!" The shout snapped Tyrian from his trance. "Our ships are under a massive psionic attack. The enemy is advancing on us."

"Order all ships to continue the attack. I and my kindred shall deal with this," Tyrian replied as his two Warlocks stood to either side of him. They each touched their Wraithbone staffs to the floor and closed their eyes. Gentle ribbons of energy flowed around them, intertwining and separating at random. With one voice the three Eldar began chanting, and everyone aboard the ship could feel the power they were generating. The shaking which had buffeted the ship now ceased. Outside the Vorlon ships were seemingly frozen, twitching in space.

"What is this?" Liara asked.

"We…are disrupting their control… over their vessels," Tyrian hissed from between clenched teeth. "Destroy them. Now!" He whispered as a trickle of blood began flowing from his nose.

"All ships, open fire! Full weapons!" Liara practically shouted, her warrior's blood rising. She watched with glee as the Eldar war vessels sliced and pounded their way through the immobilized Vorlon ships. The fixed defences still fired, but with their ships neutralized the Vorlonns had already lost this battle.

…

Kosh and Ular both felt as if ice were encasing their energy forms. There were monstrously powerful minds aboard the enemy ships, minds which put the psionic potential of the Vorlons to shame. He felt one brush against his consciousness and for an instant he saw a tall, pale skinned man with pointed ears and eyes so blue they seemed crystal. "You are done," the mind said, then broke contact as every Vorlonn in the entire facility began feeling the paralysing effects of the psionic assault. All sensation from the outside vanished, leaving only the soul searing agony of the alien mind.

"We. Must. Fight." Ular managed to speak.

"We must…gather ourselves," Kosh replied, his voice staining as he fought against the overwhelming energies seizing him. Suddenly he felt a tremendous pain seize him as his cruiser, which was currently docked to the main complex, was struck and destroyed. It's death agonies rippled through him. Then, as suddenly as it had begun, the mental assault ceased.

"It is over," Ular said hopefully as he attempted to regain contact with the other Vorlonns nearby.

"Yes," Kosh intoned, though his voice was one of despair. He felt Ular's mind share the sensation as he regained his sight. The two Vorlons were floating in a piece of debris, the entire facility around them blasted away. A few dying ships still floated in the void, their pain echoing within the two Vorlonns. "Why?" He asked.

"Remembrance," Ular replied to Kosh's question. The invaders wanted the Vorlonns to know what had happened here. Soon others would come for them, and then this new enemy, likely the strongest race the Vorlonns had faced since the defeat of the Kirshiac Lords, would be shown the grave mistake they had made.

…

"We are nearing our destination Farseer," Shipmaster Etheial called out to Farseer Enithia from where she sat meditating on the far side of the command bridge.

"I am aware," the Farseer replied. "With no strong daemons here, I have been able to extend my sight significantly. The Zha'do are near, likely across the barrier. When we transit, open fire at once. Do not wait for anything. Our first strike will be vital."

"Understood Farseer. Helm, prepare for return to normal space." Even though the Vail of Vaul kept the Eldar ships safe from daemonic attack, Etheial was far more comfortable in real space.

The Warp exit formed ahead and the Eldar ships leapt through it without hesitation. At once salvoes of weapons fire rippled out into the loosely assembled ranks of Zha'do vessels. A massive black cloud was peeling back from the remains of a blue crystalline station. A few slightly organic looking vessels were still fighting, but they were overwhelmed in seconds. The Zha'do vessels spun with respectable speed, firing hundreds of slicer beams at the onrushing Eldar ships. Twelve ships were struck, and of those five ceased to exist. The others limped on, but were soon targeted and destroyed.

Farseer Enithia reached out with her mind, seeking to learn the pattern of the enemy's attack. Instead she heard a horrible scream in her mind, nearly causing her to cry out. Instead she pushed back, driving a mental lance into the enemy. She could sense her four Warlocks each attacking the crew of a different vessel. Each ship appeared to only have a single crew member, but when scanned a great cold seemed to spread out from the contact.

"Farseer, the enemy vessels! They are not moving!" The shipmaster called out. "What did you do Farseer?!"

"They must be vulnerable to psionic attacks," Enithia replied. Closing her eyes once again, she reached out to as many ships as she could, but scanning them but directing as much of her power as she could into as many ships as she could touch. With a thought every other Farseer and Warlock in the fleet did the same. More and more Zha'do ships ceased motion, simply stitching in space. Their mental screams rang through Eldar minds, but those minds had faced the daemons of the Sea of Souls, and compared to them the screams were nothing.

"Shipmaster, the cloud ship is still moving!" Came a shout from the sensor console.

A quick glance confirmed the Zha'do death cloud was still in motion, though it was moving much slower than before. Enithia diverted a portion of her gaze as several of the vessels she was holding were destroyed, locating a pair of minds too dark and cold to read. "It is them!" She hissed. "There are Zha'do on that cloud!"

"But their vessels Farseer," Etheial began.

"Are merely crewed by their slaves and their servants. The Zha'do are too cowardly to fight themselves. Destroy the remaining vessels quickly! The death cloud will require all of my focus," Enithia ordered, feeling the Zha'do aboard the cloud attempting to pierce her thoughts. She blocked them, but could feel hot blood running down her nose, staining her beautiful robes.

"Do as the Farseer instructs!" Etheial called out, watching as the Eldar opened fire without pause, pulsar lances, phantom torpedoes and various other death-dealing devices killed one black ship after another, and with each one destroyed the others were even more vulnerable.

Finally the last Zha'do ship blew apart, but the death cloud was nearly on them. Missiles reached out, but they were easily picked off, yet each moment brought more of them. Reaching out with their combined power, the two Farseers and many Warlocks of Altansar ripped apart the barriers between the Sea of Souls and this place. Huge rifts appeared around the Zha'do cloud, warp lightning lancing out as if eager to taste the essence of real space. The Zha'do cloud began showing holes as its shroud was sucked away, leaving a framework of black metal behind. The Eldar ships now added their conventional firepower to the Warp assault on the Zha'do flag vessel. Great explosions began rippling across the frame as missiles detonated in sequence.

Finally the Warp rifts combined into a single massive opening within the cloud's structure. Space rippled and shimmered as if the Zha'do cloud were being seen through a heat haze. Structure buckled, bent and rearranged until finally the entire machine was rent apart in a cataclysmic explosion which washed over the front ranks of Eldar ships, leaving several drifting dead in space.

As the light from the explosion faded the Eldar Fleet began rescue operations for those ships disabled in the explosion. As the first group of survivors were brought aboard, white lights began flickering some distance away, near the location of the former base structure. As the Eldar ships once again assembled in battle formation, an immense structure tore itself into existence. It was long, roughly cylindrical and bristling with weapon batteries.

"The alloys are unknown Shipmaster, but we sense only a single occupant aboard," one of the crew informed Etheial. "We are receiving a signal."

"Place it on the screen," the Shipmaster replied. She watched as the screen flickered for several moments before resolving into an unknown face. The man vaguely resembled a Mon-Keigh, but a tri pointed crest of bone adorned the back of his skull and he was clad in a massive suit of dark grey armour.

"Greetings Eldar, the Babylon Class Star Fortress _Incorruptible Will _hails you, one servant of War to others. My name is Valen, and we have much to discuss. But this is not the time, for the Minbari are coming and you must go, for they are young and still in the thrall of the Vorlonn. And they're masters have told them that you are a new darkness spreading across the stars to rival the evil of the Zha'do."

The figure brought up a badge bearing the symbol of Altansar and across the fleet shock rippled through the shipmasters and exarchs watching, for it was the symbol of authority given to exarchs so that another Craftworld would know who commanded the field of battle.

However the greatest shock on this day was that this Valen bore the badge and asserted his dominance of the field over the Eldar, Farseer Enithia, though greatly weakened and extremely intrigued ordered the departure of the Eldar fleet from this place for the warlocks and the Farseer could all sense the approach of the Minbari.

As the fleet turned to leave the flag vessels received a massive data dump from the star fortress.

_**M2.256 Babylon Class Star Fortress, Incorruptible Will, Sector 14**_

As the Eldar Fleets left realspace and headed back to Arraxia, Valen breathed a soft sigh of relief for even as the warp entry points of the Eldar closed. Space cracked and opened into Jump points as over 60 Minbari Warcruisers arrived with attendant frigates and escorts.

For Alyt Narann of the Warcruiser Deltona Fell the desperate call for reinforcement at the forward staging base, had been a fell thing to listen to for his brothers were both stationed at the base, and from what the message related stood arrayed against the Minbari at this battle they where to late to do anything except find and bury their dead.

However as they entered realspace they were greeted with a massive debris field littered with Minbari and Shadow warships and the scattered remnants of one of Minbars greatest military achievements however calmly floating in the middle of the field was the largest structure any of the Minbari had ever seen excepting the great fleetyards in orbit of Minbar, and it was extremely ugly.

The battlestation was cold, dark and ran on minimal life-support.

But despite misgivings about this place as a fortress of the new allies of the Shadows, the so-called ghosts. The teams of warriors were quickly exploring this place and though it was utterly alien the directional signs and controls were all written in Minbari basic.

As life support was fully activated the commander of the boarding forces was notified that at the very top of the station possibly at the primary command deck sensors registered a single garbled lifesign - Minbari.

Command Deck, Incorruptible Will.

Brother-Chaplain Jeffrey Sinclair of the 17th Legion of His Imperial Majesties Adeptus Astartes, The Word Bearers. Once more flicked an imaginary speck of dust from his

Ornate Artificier forged armor, Checked the litanies of purity, zeal and devotion held onto his armor by wax seals imprinted with the image of the Aquila Imperialis - the great Double Eagle.

When the historical files had been shown to him to the Master-Chaplain, he had known it was his fate to do this great task, to travel millennia into the past and bring the light of Imperial Might unto the hated Zha'do and to weaken the bonds of the Vorlon…"Shadows"…he reminded himself for now he was alone with only this station and a reminder of home located in his quarters, a single altar dedicated to the Imperial Faith.

As the great bulkhead doors started to cycle open he gathered up his equipment thumbed on the two-handed mastercrafted powersword and struck what his battle brothers had all called his "Impressive" stance.

As Alyt Shuran, Leader of the ground warriors accompanying the Fell, entered the command deck his gaze immediately glued itself to the largest man he had ever seen that stood towering over his somewhat nervous combat team, this male with a large decorated crest and sharpened glinting crest spines resembled one of the great warrior kings of legends and times long past.

The suit of armor seemed beyond anything the Minbari had constructed despite its massive size seemingly offering no resistance to its wearer's abilities, but it was the ever present emblems that adorned the armor and the might blade that truly made Shuran nervous, a crestless winged skull stretched across the mans chest and made up the pommel of the massive sword, it was macabre and ominous.

The warrior for undoubtedly he was a warrior opened his mouth and spoke softly but with a deep and commanding voice, "I am Valen."

_**M2.470; Border System; Minbari federation; Shadow Class attack cruiser Lsantril's Bow**_

Exarch Kalin'dar of the Swooping Hawks, was impatient, The Mon-Keigh Exarch Sinclair or Valen as he was known to the younger races was late.

It had been a shock to learn that HIS temple had accepted a Mon-Keigh as honorary Exarch, and what else it had been his decision.

For many years he had scoffed at the very idea, however it started to intrigue him to the point that he took duty for the next meeting between "Valen" and Altansar, but Valen was late.

What had detained Valen was far from simple however it would be truly dire yet fated, the Vree mercenary clans had decided to annex three systems within Minbari space, so Valen would have to personally go there and "convince" them to leave.

What Valen and Kalin'dar did not know was that one of the Alyts diverted a Warcruiser and two frigates to cover for the detour taken by Valen's group.

And so it was that in plain view as the Minbari ships arrived, sat the _Bow _her defences and weaponry powered down, passive in the void.

The Shai Alyt in command of the Warcruiser immediately ordered the ship to be fired upon as the Vorlons had spoken about these servants of Darkness in graceful but deadly birdships.

As the Minbari vessels struck and struck very hard the graceful wings of the Shadow were punched and perforated, even as the ship seemed to blur and move at lightning speed it was leaking plasma and flames, but it was not merely fleeing in the time it took the vessel to escape the first barrage which left the graceful form of the cruiser crumpled and burned, she had launched torpedoes and fired all available guns obliterating the two escort frigates and severely damaging the Warcruiser before entering the sea of souls. But Lsantril's Bow was far from the ship it had been only hours before segments of ship having exploded under the relentless pounding by Minbari neutron cannons and the Warcruisers antimatter converter having actually turned ship segments into antimatter and thus caused huge amounts of internal damage.

Kalin'dar looked upon his dying crew and heard the death screams of those unable to make it to safe areas, as the final tallies came in it became clear that nearly 40 of the crew had been killed. The Minbari would pay dearly for each life, this he swore on the blood of his crew.

M2.470 Valen's Command Vessel; The Burning Talon

As the battle report came in Valen froze, the blood in his veins turned to ice and he was unable to truly comprehend the monumental stupidity required fire on an unknown contact simply because the Vorlons had talked about a new enemy that had appeared just before Valen's rule.

Worse yet for Valen, he knew exactly what would happen, the Eldar warhost would assemble and all that was Minbari would be subject to the Bazhakhain – The Tempest of Blades would strike and he knew they would not survive its rage.

M2.470; Alpha Centauri; Arraxia; Orbit.

It had been close to half a cycle since that fateful day but now it was time, rows of ships were arrayed and at the ready for battle, this was a young race, and when prepared they were no threat to the Eldar, it was a legion of minnows arrayed around the massive Craftworld and as the Autarch gave the order, the twelve temple fleets broke off into a glimmering haze and were gone into the sea of souls.

The Tempest of Blades was coming, and none could stand in its path.

M2.471; Minbar; Yedor

The warriors despaired, the priests prayed continuously and the workers forged new ships, the battlestation Valen had brought with him had long since been torn apart and new ships built with materials and concepts discovered from it.

At this moment the Minbari were facing a foe more ruthless and cold then even the shadows. While the shadows quickly slaughtered everything in their path, these beings were slow and methodical, and worst of all theatrical. On every single colony, ship and outpost that sent a distress signal all that was found was plains of glassed earth with a circle of 12 swords rammed into the glass, each sword bearing a distinct banner that Valen had informed the castes were banners marking the warrior temples.

In the middle of this circle there was always a banner of deepest blood red with a black border and on it a black rune composed of a twisted band and two bound downward pointing arrows.

The New Sharlin design had quickly been scrapped by the workers and warriors as they knew that with this new foe, they needed sleeker, faster and much more durable craft and also they needed craft protected by more then ineffectual stealth fields. To that end the Grey Council had directed much of the Minbari war machine to the production of a new and as yet untried ship. Built with technology their Vorlon mentors had given them, the Minbari's newest creation promised to be an answer to their prayers.

…

**Undisclosed Location: Minbar System: Valen'zha Command Dreadnought _Grey Hand _**

Satai Shirel was the last to enter the circle. He bowed his head as Derrel, leader of the Grey Council, took his place. For many long moments there was silence in the echoing chamber, before finally a recording of the latest battle against the Minbari's newest enemy filled the space with the images of Minbari ships being slaughtered by swift, shimmering alien warships. Within seconds a Minbari strike force had been cut to pieces.

"The Invaders continue to move deeper into our space. Our warships have been of almost no use against them, and already tens of millions of Minbari have been slain."

"The warriors will continue the fight!" Satai Shakil of the Warrior caste announced. "With every battle we learn more about our enemy, and soon we shall drive them out of our space!"

"We admire your bravery Shakil, but even your valiant efforts are not enough. But do not worry," Derrel replied, holding up a hand as the warrior bristled at the perceived challenge to his fighting ability. "Our mentors have seen fit to grace us with the means to defeat these servants of darkness." The footage of Minbari ships drifting through space was replaced with a large shipyard, and within lay a ship only one of the Council had before seen. Larger than a Sharlin yet not as tall as a Sharlin, the ship was built with a large nose section which connected to a tapering engine module with a thick, double hulled main body. Sleek drive fins, swept back so as to present a smaller profile, accentuated the armoured hull, which glimmered softly with the extremely tough new silversteel armour covering the critical points. Many gun ports lined the hull like needles, ready to penetrate and kill any for who came up against it.

"I have never seen that ship before," Satai Shakir of the Warriors remarked. "What is it?"

"It is the _Sword of Valen_," Derrel replied. "Built with technology gifted to us by the Vorlons and Valen so that we might strike down this dark enemy. Already the first are ready. They will protect our Colony in the Tlatcar system. It will likely be struck soon if the enemy's attack pattern holds, and there we will show them our resolve," Derrel finished, his voice filled with confidence. "We are the chosen of the light, and we shall see this new enemy crushed under our might."

…

**Sar'ain Shipyards: Sar'ain System: Minbari Federation.**

Shai Alyt Miron stood proudly on the command deck of the _Sword of Valen. _Much different from the large, airy chamber of a Sharlin, the _Sword of Valen's _command center was much lower, only twice the height of a Minbari. Stations ran along both walls, with the weapons and engineering consoles slightly behind and below the Alyt's command chair.

All around him the other eleven vessels of his fleet stood ready. Three were Sharlins, part of the planetary defence fleet, but the others were sister ships to the _Sword. _The dark enemy would strike this place very soon, so the Grey Council had said. "Run another system check on the weapon array," he ordered, fingering his new badge of rank. It had only been a month since his promotion, but with the heavy losses the Minbari had been enduring many new warriors were getting to test their mettle.

"Yes Shai Alyt," replied the young female occupying the operations console. "All weapon systems are operational and performing as expected. Shai Alyt, may I ask you a question?"

"Of course," Miron replied. "I need a crew not afraid to voice their opinions. I learned from my mentor that such opinions can save many lives."

"Who was your mentor?" The young Minbari felt more than a little nervous about holding this sort of conversation on a combat bridge, but to her relief her Alyt simply nodded slightly.

"Shai Alyt Naronn. He comes from a highly respected family and I had the honour to be one of his students." As he spoke Miron remembered the last conversation he had had with his master. Always keep both your eyes open he had said. Miron knew what he meant, not to let hot blood cloud thinking. Such actions got warriors killed.

He was pulled from his memories by the humming of an alert. "Report!" He demanded.

"Thirty-nine enemy vessels have appeared on our scanners. Attempting to acquire targets," Alrin from the tactical station responded in the calm voice which never left him. "Enemy will enter weapons range in one minute."

"Send to all ships. This is Shai Alyt Miron. The dark enemy has appeared. They may outnumber us, but we fight to defend our people! We fight for the very existence of our people! Those things shall see us through this battle, and I will see you all at the Temple of Valen on Minbar. Good hunting." As he closed the channel Miron steeled his own heart. The enemy ships were blindingly fast, and this time three of their largest ships glided forward with them, elegant sails catching the solar winds and lending the alien vessels unnatural speed. Their outlined blurred as sophisticated stealth fields came online, reducing the enemy ships to half-visible phantoms.

"All ships, remember to group your fire to compensate for the enemy stealth fields. Four ships to each enemy, and ensure your target is gone before moving away," the tactical warrior ordered before suddenly turning back to her commander. "I am sorry, I acted without your orders."

"Fine work, you are learning quickly," Miron replied with a smile. "In combat one cannot always wait for instructions. Instincts are often the deciding factor between victory and death."

"Yes Shai Alyt," the female replied, her heart swelling with pride as she directed the neutron cannons of the _Sword of Valen _into the hull of the leading enemy vessel. A sail was punctured, tearing away large strips of material and slowing the ship's path enough that three other Sword class vessels could lock their own batteries. Before they could fire however, two of the ships suddenly exploded, showering debris over the hull of their sister ship. A pair of sleek white ships flew from the center of the explosion, shining like spears in the aftermath of their work. Fire from the Sharlins at the rear of the fleet could not seem to find them. "Group two, shift fire to the ships heading away from us. All remaining ships concentrate on your assigned targets!"

"Do not lose your calm," Miron reminded the young female. "For it is often-" Miron stopped as a blinding pain entered his mind. It felt as thought hot pokers were being hammered into his skull. He could taste blood in his mouth. As the ship reeled from a direct hit Miron fell to the floor. The agony in his head began fading, as did the world around him. He saw a heavy support beam crash down as the bridge section was hit, crushing the young female at the tactical station. He had never learned her name, he realized with sorrow as his world finally faded to black. A moment later a pulsar lance gutted the entire front half of the _Sword of Valen. _

Out in space the rest of the Minbari fleet died. They had fought very well, as the two burning Eldar vessels could attest.

On board the Void Stalker battleship _Soul Flame _Farseer Kilendres opened her eyes. "The Minbari are learning quickly. Those new ships they set against us. From the thoughts I took from their crews they could have inflicted far more damage on us had our Warlocks not acted."

"Is that respect I hear in your voice?" Shipmistress Tathiel asked with an edge to her voice. "The Minbari are our enemies. They deserve no mercy."

"I did not intend to imply mercy or compassion Shipmistress. I simply remarked that our enemy is becoming more formidable. I suggest we bring a sample of the debris with us. I sensed a faint soul echo when I crippled the commanders of the unfamiliar ships. It is nearly identical to what I sense from Vorlonn vessels; it is likely they intend to use their servants to blunt our attack and then strike us when we are depleted from our current conflict."

"You will bring this news to the Court I trust?" The Shipmistress asked, watching as survivors were recovered from the lost ships. Decades of careful song and energy went into the crafted hulls of the Eldar warships, and her heart ached with each secondary explosion which ripped through the lost ships. "Not even one," she said in a low voice.

"Indeed," Kilendres replied. "The life of one Eldar is worth more than however many lives the Minbari lose here today."

"Once the cleansing is complete and the marker placed we shall return to Altansar," Tathiel spoke, running an elegant finger along the sheath of her sword, gently tracing the gems set into the delicate material.

"I shall rest for now Shipmistress. If you have need of me, my mind is open to you," the Farseer said as she departed the command section. As the door closed shut after her, the first salvo was fired at the Minbari colony below, cleansing everything in the fires of vengeance.

M2.471 Minbar

The 12 warfleets of Altansar assembled in the Minbar system, the Minbari warfleets, what remained of them at least stood arrayed to meet them in a battle to settle the war once and for all, today the field of blood and death would stand in orbit of the Minbari homeworld.

…

They could even with the massive improvements gifted by Valen and the Vorlons barely spot the Dread enemy, what on this day remained of all Minbari warfleets and the entire reserve,

was assembled and arrayed in a giant wall formation intent on protecting Minbar at all costs, but something was desperately wrong, the ghost fleet of the enemy wasn't moving. The massive Valen'zha Command Dreadnought **Valen'zha**had joined its siblings and stood as a shimmering bulwark among a sea of minnows, the Valen'zha was the first ship constructed using the technology of Valen, harvested from the debris field after the enemies brutal strike against the Star Fortress system.

There was no movement in the cloud of hazy energy fluxes anywhere the enemy just sat there holding at three hundred kms outside of the Minbari firing range, every single Minbari warrior knew their duty and on this day the warrior caste was prepared to die and take every single enemy with them.

A single hazy shadow moved forward standing to just outside Minbari firing range, and before the eyes of the Minbari Captains and the grey council the hazy shade cleared and revealed a glowing and pulsing white ship, the entire system held its breath.

Across the fleet and on the world below terror and dread reigned supreme as between the single visible enemy and the hazy fleet an enormous rift appeared and from this million-coloured wound in space the single greatest warship any Minbari had ever appeared. It dwarfed the assembled fleets and after a mere moment the entire Minbari fleet found itself targeted by the enormous cannons of this hellish vessel.

Seconds later a large number of small lights turned on as the Minbari fleet received a comm. signal from the new alien flagship.

"Greetings, Young Ones, you did spill the blood of our people, we have spilled yours and fed the furnace of Vengeance, today it ends, we stop now and you will live to see the future become the past."

With that space ripped open and the dread enemy vanished leaving behind nothing to show they had been there.

All Minbari sighed in relief and wonder.


	7. Chapter 7

Unholy War of the Dilgar.

3 million years ago on the planet Omelos a medium sized feline species had started an evolutionary path that would set parts of the galaxy ablaze, though the tree climbing jungle cats that would become the Dilgar hardly knew that at the time, however in the end all that was Dilgar had coalesced into 6 solar systems and a fairly mighty civilisation, but it was a dying one. The Dilgar had 18 years until their sun would nova, so they did what had to too survive; they built several fleets and set off to conquer as much as possible so as to provide salvation to their people.

Though the Dilgar ships were light and the beam cannons on them crude and frightfully underpowered they still packed enough of a punch to send most battleships scurrying, for the technology behind the Dilgars newest beam weaponry was not Dilgar at all, it was Terran.

Based off the same technology as a lasrifle the Dilgar had managed to construct a, by Terran measurements wholly underpowered, Lascannon.

The weapon when deployed on dual mounts was fearsome against the weak armor of league vessels.

The Dilgar Conquest rolled like a tidal wave across the league until they hit the system of Tiree, a border system on the Terran-Markab border, at Tiree the massed refugee convoys of the league had been talking with the Terran 2nd border fleet and fervently requesting asylum and protection.

The commander of the border fleet granted that asylum and protection at just the right moment. The Dilgar 3rd Warfleet had arrived.

The Terran warships, had a simple objective: Get The Refugee ships into Terran held space, if that meant forming a line abreast and ploughing thru the 2400 ships of the Dilgar 3rd Warfleet then so be it, and that is what they did, the Dilgar held the Jumpgate and the League Refugees wouldn't survive the gravitational stresses in the Warp, so Vice-Admiral Hatcher spread his lighter ships out around the refugee fleet and put his heavy cruisers in an arrowhead formation, and ordered battlestations.

It was an unmitigated slaughter, the Dilgar Warfleet started the advance, using thinned staggered ranks, the Terran warship captains could care less what the Dilgar did, all they needed to know was that the Dilgar was in the way. The Terran Plough pushed forward torpedoes, plasma bolts and lances striking out ahead and gutting Dilgar warships ahead of the ships, Vice-admiral Hatcher watched the slaughter and after seeing the amount of damage he was inflicting ordered best speed, the massive cruiser engines flared and the advance started in truth, like the Scythe of the Reaper the Terran cruisers gutted the Dilgar Warfleet, in 20 minutes the numbers had gone from 2400 Dilgar vessels against 25 Terran warships and 600 Refugee vessels, a seemingly easy victory for the Dilgar, but now the numbers were 1600 Dilgar Warships against 585 refugee ships and 25 Terran Warships, Vice-Admiral Hatcher ordered a full weapons release, 1.4 seconds after the order had been spoken all turrets on the Terran Warships released and plasma bolts Lascannons and heavy antifighter bolters sang the anthem of death and the Dilgar fleet broke, was smashed into anarchy and at last was routed, but the terran fleet would not let the Dilgar escape easily and when at last the Dilgar jump points opened and allowed what did remain to escape, it was a mere 30 ships that did escape.

That battle had repercussions, it's repercussions got the Terrans off their armour suited butts and firmly into the war.

The shockwaves were ringing across Terran space, 16 million dead , after the battle of Tyree where the 2nd border fleet had stepped between the fleeing League fleet and the pursuing Dilgar forces, and though Terra had suffered few casualties at the battle, the Dilgar had suffered greatly and had now struck out at the nearby Eridani in retaliation for Terra having aided their prey, the only ones not dead by the biogenic weaponry had been the local garrison of Night Lords, out of 16 million inhabitants on Eridani the only survivors were the 2000 Astartes.

**Overlord class c****ruiser, Revenant Justice, Theta System, Refugee Station: Alpha Primaris**.

Commodore Hassan Al'Hakim of the Revenant Justice was a 3rd generation navy man and like most he was fairly pragmatic about life, however he could not help but feel nervous, for in less then an hour the battlefleet would arrive, and with it the emperor and the call to war.

For the past several weeks his border fleet had been the guardians at the gates for the league races, as they fled their home territories to avoid the shadow of death thrown across the sector by the Dilgar advance.

In the past hours he had sat, paced, prayed, taken calls from the administrations of most league nations and generally kept order in the system.

However it was time for the daily council session on Alpha Primaris.

After having shuttled over to the station, he sedately made his way to council chamber and even from 60 meters away he could hear the bickering of the peacemakers and warmongers.

The peacemakers wanted the Dilgar out of their systems then a return to normalcy, the warmongers wanted to destroy the Dilgar utterly, as he entered the octahedral chamber many of the voices quieted, they had of course all heard about the slaughter of Eridani and many were asking loudly if the terrans were to much of a trading nation to stomach war. He knew that in little less then 15 minutes the windows in the chamber facing the warp translation point, would reveal to them all the Terran stomach for war, he looked over at the Centauri ambassador, Lord Londo Mollari, the 4th generation of Mollari's to serve as liaisons, many had tried to usurp the Mollari position but they had been discouraged as the Mollari family had for the past 105 years hosted a rotation of Luna Wolves terminators, and those terminators had been very efficient at "discouraging" any assassination attempts made on the Mollari family, inevitably he was roused from his thoughts as the Natar of Abbai, asked him the question probably ready to burst from the others aswell, he knew they had been impressed and downright scared at the power his small cruiser squadron with escorts, could bring to the field of battle.

"How and when is your Emperor going to respond to the Dilgar assault, Commodore?"

Smiling calmly as his XO notified him of the first charges of a building warp translation point, he stood and in a theatrical and gentlemanly fashion merely pointed out the massive panorama windows, as space violently tore itself open and deposited the greatest concentration of military power outside of Alpha Centauri, right at the doorstep of the refugee station.

Now when the Astartes had first arrived in this universe, the prototype fortress battlebarges Spear of Prospero and Fist of Horus had been the flagships of the fleet, however after several unforeseen necessities had been taken care of the Spear of Prospero had been Semi-biologised and renamed the Valhalla's Hammer, and the Fist of Horus had been converted into the huge Fortress Astartes, so the emperor had commissioned a new flagship, based off a previously discarded battleship design, the design while an STC had needed a rare heavy element to construct the final thinnest layer of energy conductive armor, in this place, that element was known as Q40 and came by the planetoid.

So it was with a great fervour that during the last ten years the Admech had been forging and constructing the new flagship of the Imperial fleet.

_The Vengeful Spirit_

Massing more then even the greatest of the League fleets the Vengeful Spirit measured a massive thirty-two kilometers from armoured prow to stern

Now as the ship passed Lord Mollari's Octurion, one could note that the huge gold painted name measured larger and longer then the quite massive Centauri battleship.

Accompanying the Spirit was the near total of the Terran Fleet, a total of 400 ships, now in numbers they did not even outdo a single Dilgar attack fleet, however in sheer tonnage of the vessels and the power brought to the field, the Terran fleet stood as supreme masters of space.

In guarding positions around the huge flagship sat the ominous and terrifyingly huge vessels of the Astartes legions, eighteen kilometers to the meter and bristling with weaponry unseen and unheard of before.

The League representatives were in shock, they had of course seen the mighty cruisers the terrans used to patrol the refugee system, but now they saw the true might of the Terran Imperium, the escorts and cruisers the league races were used to seeing sat like minnows around the massive battleships, the battleships themselves completely overshadowed by the Flagship and the Astartes vessels.

As the initial shock had ended the leagues representative broke down crying, as the strain from the Dilgar assaults the harrowing reports of death and darkness and now the elation of knowing that with these forces involved the war would end soon.

The resentment would come later, but for now they were happy.

The league councillors hastily stood as the incredibly large form of the Terran ruler solidified and the ethereal mists and fel darkness of the Terran transmat device dissipated.

Sheathed in head to toe in some form of heavy black and grey armour, one armoured gauntlet ending in large dagger like claws, and the other conforming more to the classic shape of a Terran hand rested calmly on the handle of a broadsword.

The Terran security forces and Commodore Al'Hakim immediately snapped to attention with a hoarse proclamation of "Ave Princeps, Aeternus Vici!" (Hail Emperor, Eternally (you) Conquer)

Commodore Al'Hakim knelt before his liege before moving off the floor and leaving it to the Master of Sol.

"Esteemed allies and friends, two weeks ago we saved you from certain death, one week ago the Dilgar launched a massive vengeance strike comprising nearly the full might of 12 of their warfleets and though suffering heavy losses among their light ships, struck the world of Eridani with a series of bio weapons cleansing that world of our people, so on this day Terra will proclaim a message to the galaxy and the Dilgar people"

Horus nodded to Al'Hakim, who tersely ordered that 90 percent of the stations power be shunted to the comm. grid.

The weapons and shields of the massive Ramilies fortress became silent and for the first time in the history of two universes the pure massive power harnessed inside the powercore of a Ramilies Star Fort was turned into a blanket transmission on all frequencies possible for the communications grid to transmit upon.

Across the entire galaxy the broadcast went out, it disrupted all communications and destroyed many smaller relay stations, on every communications screen glowed the Imperial eagle for afew seconds before the grim hard eyes of Horus bored into the souls of all who saw it and proclaimed "Attero, Omelos has two weeks."

Tens of millions of worlds saw the broadcast and on every world whether they knew who the being was or what he meant knew it would not be good. For all races and people had that much in common that all knew such a look of cold burning hatred was never a good thing.

A week later the massed ranks and blood of Terra flashed into the Warp and set a course directly for Omelos, Home of the Dilgar.

Omelos T- 1 hour

Warmaster Jha'Dur Deathwalker's head was hurting, for 2 weeks they evacuated all Dilgar possible off Omelos, but there were still nearly 2 billion Dilgar on world, if that's wasn't enough, then she had better news.

For the past 2 weeks strangely constructed organic fightercraft had attacked and destroy parts of the evacuation convoys decimating the ships carrying food and medical supplies, oh there was a pattern alright, the fightercraft only destroyed food and medical supplies bought from the Terrans, not once had they targeted the packed refugee vessels or any ships carrying food from the annexed league territories.

The Dilgar Empire was a proud empire, and losing Omelos to a nova was one thing but losing her to an invader was another thing entirely, so it was that the full might of the Dilgar warfleets assembled, it was a truly majestic scene the huge armada numbering near 2500 ships of the line with 18000 escorts all gleaming with deadly intent, then they came, ripping a hole in the very fabric of reality the Terran fleet made its appearance, across the Dilgar fleet ethereal flashes solidified into warriors of the Adeptus Astartes who laid low the bridge crews of the flagships and took the Dilgar Warmasters back to the observations deck of Horus flag vessel, the massive windows of the observation hall showing the Dilgar homeworld and warfleets in their splendour, then the deck vibrated and flashes of death flew from the surrounding terran warships and Dilgar died as the fleets closed for battle.

Above Omelos' Solar Plane

Thousands Sons Flagship: Valhalla's Hammer

Magnus the Red sat in the command throne of his ship anticipating the signal from Horus, the signal that would herald the end of the Dilgar homeworld. In his mind it was a sad day as he watched the sensor suites report of the massacre in progress, oh the Dilgar did deserve a massacre but they would let the survivors of the battle run, run with the knowledge that they were a dead people.

The Hammer had spent the spent day coasting in towards Omelos on minimal power settings and would in a matter of minutes enter range.

The Terran Empire had been struck but in a quarter hour Magnus would prove that the might of Terra was merciless.

Horus calmly ordered the fleet to fall back beyond attack point Omega and to hold the Dilgar advance.

Terran trade had exported many things including hundreds of classical movies, one of the more popular ones had been star wars, making the geeks nerds and sci-fi freaks on the ´net say that the galaxy had been struck with the Teal'c phenomenon, referencing a main character in the hugely popular original series of Stargate.

As such three of the most well-known words in the galactic quadrant had heralded the end of peaceful Alderaan.

And while the Hammer of Valhalla didn't have the raw power of the Death Star, it had more then enough to destroy such a tectonically unstable world as Omelos.

Horus smiled predatorily and keyed general comms to the Hammer, keeping his eyes fixed on the Dilgar Warmasters guarded on the bridge he spoke, "Magnus, Commence Primary Ignition" two of the Dilgar fainted at those words, but all of them paled, each and everyone knowing the terrible fate behind those words.

Hammer of Valhalla, primary weapons range of Omelos.

Magnus sighed softly, as the chaplains and priests of Terra's faiths chanted the rites and passages of death. He keyed the comms to Horus and spoke softly "Commencing Primary Ignition".

Darkness rippled and the burnt orange hull of the Hammer started glowing a ghostly green, the four claws extending from the prow lit up and focused into 4 beams of green energy that met 2 km in front of the mighty vessel and seconds later the main planetary assault lance on the ship fired directly into one of Omelos most active fault lines.

To the Dilgar fleet, the massive ship had come out of the black nowhere and unleashed a weapon from the nightmares of space, they could see the oceans boiling away from the beam and great lines of lava cracked the continents and dust and steam at last obscured the final death of their Homeworld, what happened next would be forever burned into the minds of the Dilgar that witnessed it, the planet cracked and tumbled into a rapidly cooling asteroid field.

Horus keyed the holo comms and spoke quietly, "Dilgar Warfleet. stand down you have lost."

Jha'Dur Deathwalker looked at the massive form of the Terran Emperor and spoke softly "we surrender."

In a ghostly lit room in the heart of terran space 12 figures stood and watched the end of the Dilgar conquest.

"The Mon-Keigh have defeated the Dilgar, it was expected but their way of victory is concerning, I believe it is time, the war draws near and Altansar can no longer afford to stand alone, we must contact the Mon-Keigh and make our alliances, for it is time, the scouting fleets are reporting a resurgence in Vorlonn and Zha'do activity. As the farseer's vision a thousand years ago told us we need the Mon-keigh to win this war."

Exarch Kalanas of the Dark Reaper Temple watched the other exarchs grimly before speaking, "Who goes to the Mon-Keigh and makes this peace"

Farseer Tyrian spoke softly "I will go."

The council bowed to elderly Farseer and simply accepted his statement.

The Eldar were going to Terra.


End file.
